eli5 why were pre-anesthesia amputations not done with quillotine like devices to make it as fast as possible?

Question

eli5 why were pre-anesthesia amputations not done with quillotine like devices to make it as fast as possible?

In: 9

Answer 1

Sometimes they were. Sometimes they still are, in a sense.

The problem is that there is no flesh left for wound closure at that point. A proper amputation must leave extra skin, essentially peeling it back, THEN cutting away the damaged tissue, then sewing the extra skin left over shut to close the wound cleanly. That extra skin is not there with a guillotine cut as the flesh is cut on the same level as the tissues beneath