Eli5: Why didn’t old times amputation use the butcher’s method?

Question

Was just reading on pre 20th century amputations and how they strived to be as fast as possible, cutting through bone and all.
Why didn’t they just amputate at the joint, like a butcher cuts pork or beef? That would have been way faster than sawing off though bone.

In: 8

Answer 1

That’s literally what they did, because cutting through bone EXPONENTIALLY increased risk of infection and death. They made a specific tool called an amputation knife (not a liston knife) that was meant to cut away the flesh at a joint and you would use a chisel or other implement to cut through the joint.