eli5 why were pre-anesthesia amputations not done with quillotine like devices to make it as fast as possible?
In: 9
If the whole limb were chopped off in one fell swoop, there would not have been enough skin and other soft tissue to sew together in order to close the wound. Cutting slowly and deliberately gives the surgeon better control over the remaining tissue and, therefore, the outcome.
Had the patient survived anyway, this approach would have made it very difficult for a prosthetic limb to be attached, because very little tissue would have been attached over the end of the bone providing cushioning. The pressure of a prosthetic on just bone is excruciating.
(Also, you mean guillotine, with a G.)
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