Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity through trauma or surgery. Amputations are named in reference to the nearest joint; i.e. a below-knee amputation or an above-elbow amputation. If an amputation is performed through a joint space, it is referred to as a disarticulation.
Amputation is used to control pain or disease in the affected limb. Amputation is typically a treatment of last resort. Amputation can also be used as punishment or as an act of terrorism. Side-effects of amputation can include psychological trauma and discomfort. Patients sometimes report phantom limb pain, in which nerve activity in the stump is perceived as pain in a body part that is no longer present.
A particularly controversial form of amputation is known as the Van-ness rotationplasty.[1] In most cases, it is performed in the case of a femoral osteosarcoma. The procedure consists of an above-knee amputation above the level of the sarcoma. Keeping the blood vessels intact, the surgeon then severs the amputated limb below the knee. The lower leg —the tibia, fibula, ankle, and foot—are then rotated 180 degrees. The lower leg, still rotated, is then attached to the stump so that the heel is at the anterior aspect of the leg. The ankle is now used as a knee joint, to which a prosthesis is attached. This supposedly makes ambulation much easier.