Amputation Essay

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The subject of this paper is on amputation in human beings and exploring how the brain reacts to an amputation. In addition, this paper shall look at how an amputation affects the amputee's life, exploring for example; what the psychological and physical limits an amputee could possibly go through and how do they cope with resultant disability? To find this information I have used a number of website sources, as well as journals, newspapers looking at case studies, as well as various books and videos to develop my understanding. An amputation “is the surgical removal of part of the body, such as an arm or leg (NHS 2017). An individual who goes through an amputation goes through bursts of many emotions, as they need to get used to such a change …show more content…

Common medical diseases/conditions known to result in an amputation are breast cancer (mastectomy) and other cancers such as testicular cancers and diabetes. The amputation of a breast (mastectomy) is the removal of all breast tissue on one side or on both sides in which normally the nipple and areola being removed (komen.org 2017). The removal of all of the cancerous tissue from the breast must be removed this is very important because if all of the cancerous cells are not removed there is a chance that the cancer could come back and spread to other parts of the body (NHS 2017). Although a mastectomy is not always the best option for breast cancer it is the most efficient. Moving on, another common medical reason for an amputation is diabetes as the most common amputation done in people with diabetes are the toes, feet, and lower legs. Healthline.com quotes that; peripheral artery disease (PAD) causes your blood vessels to narrow and reduces blood flow to your legs and feet. It may also cause nerve damage. This could prevent you from feeling pain. Due to the lack of pain diabetics may not notice that their feet have a wound or an ulcer and so the pressure being put on this can cause it to become infected. The reduced blood flow slows down the possibility of the wound from becoming healed and makes your body less effective at fighting an infection. From this your wound may …show more content…

“These include shortening and smoothing the bone in your remaining limb so it's covered by an adequate amount of soft tissue and muscle, and stitching the remaining muscle to the bones to help strengthen your remaining limb.”(NHS) Amongst other things such as draining away any urine, painkillers for when you wake up and you being stitched up. However the patient has to have an assessment before having the surgery because it is not an emergency amputation, to make sure what type of amputation is needed to ensure the best recovery, for the future. Factors included in the assessment include: a typical medical assessment as well as a psychological assessment, an assessment of your healthy limb (to see how well the limb could work by itself) and a conclusion on how well the patients living facilities can adapt with this certain disability. (NHS

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