Amputations and prostheses through the centuries / Bernard J. Ficarra.

  • Bernard J. Ficarra
Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Amputations and prostheses through the centuries / Bernard J. Ficarra. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Reprinted from the Medical Record for February, March, and April 1943 AMPUTATIONS AND PROSTHESES THROUGH THE CENTURIES BERNARD J. FICARRA, M.D. Brooklyn, N. Y. Let us. . delve into the depths of time and Bring forth from out the ages that have rolled A few small fragments of those wrecks sublime Which human eye may never more behold.” Making of a Surgeon, by Gatewood. Introduction A narrative on amputations is of necessity a reitera¬ tion of surgical progress. As medical knowledge pierced the darkness of ignorance epochs were created in the progress of surgery. With this advancement the re¬ moval of an extremity because of injury, disease or deformity became a scientific procedure. After the re¬ moval of a limb, the need for a substitute became self- evident. In response to this necessity the prosthetist became closely associated with the surgeon. Prosthesis is a Greek term meaning an addition. By definition it signifies the supplying' of a lost leg, eye, tooth or other part by an artificial one. In this dis¬ cussion the word is used in reference to synthetic arms or legs. The word amputation is derived from the Latin preposition ambi meaning around and the verb putare to prune. By common usage it has been accepted to signify “the cutting off of a limb or part of a limb, the breast, or other projecting part” (18). The application of the word in general surgery refers more specifically to the removal of an arm or leg, in whole or in part. Many modifying words have been used with amputation in order to describe the type of procedure. The most commonly employed terms are: transfusing, central, coat-sleeve, diclastic, oval, osteo¬ plastic, circular, kinematic, elliptical and guillotine amputations. Copyright, 1943, by The Medical Journal and Kecord Publishing Company, Inc.
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