Living with an amputation is not always easy and must be mastered with a lot of strength. This applies not only to the physical limitations, but also to the psychological and emotional suffering that those affected have to cope with.
What is an amputation?
An amputation is a procedure that results in the loss of single or multiple body parts. The most common amputations are performed on the arms and legs. An amputation is a procedure in which there is loss of single or multiple body parts. In this context, an amputation may be medically necessary and a treatment procedure, or the amputation may be caused by an accident. Since an amputation occurs in varying degrees, major, minor and borderline amputations are distinguished from each other in medicine. In addition, it may be unavoidable to perform an emergency amputation to save lives. The most common amputations are performed on the arms and legs.
Function, effect, and goals
Amputation may become medically necessary when, for example, diabetes mellitus, cancer, and circulatory problems have been diagnosed or when accidental treatment occurs. Various procedures are practiced to surgically perform the amputation, depending on the limb or area of amputation. One goal of a professional medical amputation is to provide a high quality fitting with a replacement prosthesis is possible. As a rule, after an amputation a so-called stump or a terminal limb remains, which is the basis for the prosthesis. During the procedure of an amputation, it is necessary to induce anesthesia in the patient in order to eliminate the sensation of pain. Then, in the case of an amputation, the different tissue layers of the skin, muscles and bony components must be cut. The skin flaps are sutured together over the remaining bone in such a way that the wound heals as quickly as possible. The bones are normally sawn through surgically. Subsequent intensive wound care by draining tissue water and fluid secretions from the wound is performed using draining tubular drains. This is also the only way to minimize scarring and other complications after amputation. Since the severed tissues also include the nerves, this can lead to so-called phantom pain in the further course. Unless it is an emergency amputation, in practice only as much of a limb is removed as is absolutely necessary. Not only hard limbs with bone, but also soft tissues may be subject to amputation under certain circumstances. In this context, we are talking, for example, about the breasts of patients with cancer, amputations of the penis or other components. If the cutting of the corresponding organs results in the opening of blood vessels, these are coagulated with modern devices and thus quickly closed. Nevertheless, an amputation can be accompanied by immense blood loss, so that a blood transfusion is advisable. Aftercare following an amputation includes regular assessment and treatment of the wound on the stump, pain therapy and psychological treatment, physiotherapeutic training and fitting of the prosthesis. Before that, the sutures are removed and further treatment of the scar tissue is performed. Scars after amputation should not harden too much and should heal as evenly as possible, because this improves the prognosis for prosthetic fitting.
Risks and dangers
Amputation does not come without risks or complications. Even a minor amputation, a small amputation of a phalanx, can turn into a major problem due to bacterial infection. In addition, there are the usual risks of anesthesia and the complications of impaired wound healing. This disadvantage is usually present in amputations when patients are physically weakened and their immune defenses are lowered. Circulatory disorders can also cause delayed wound healing. Healing of the wound after an amputation can also be problematic if certain pre-existing conditions such as diabetes mellitus are present. During the surgical procedure of amputation, a sudden drop in blood pressure can also occur, which is rare but possible.Subsequently, phantom pain and some weather sensitivity at the scar cannot be ruled out in the case of an amputation. If a missing limb leads to an incorrect and excessive load on other systems, complaints can occur at joints. Sometimes those affected by an amputation do not cope psychologically with this limitation, or massive problems occur with prosthesis use.
