Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. A special case is that of congenital amputation, a congenital disorder, where fetal limbs have been cut off by constrictive bands. In some countries, judicial amputation is currently used to punish people who commit crimes. Amputation has also been used as a tactic in war and acts of terrorism; it may also occur as a war injury. In some cultures and religions, minor amputations or mutilations are considered a ritual accomplishment. When done by a person, the person executing the amputation is an amputator. The oldest evidence of this practice comes from a skeleton found buried in Liang Tebo cave, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo dating back to at least 31,000 years ago, where it was done when the amputee was a young child.
In medicine, a prosthesis, or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth. Prostheses are intended to restore the normal functions of the missing body part. A person who has undergone an amputation is sometimes referred to as an amputee, however, this term may be offensive. Rehabilitation for someone with an amputation is primarily coordinated by a physiatrist as part of an inter-disciplinary team consisting of physiatrists, prosthetists, nurses, physical therapists, and occupational therapists. Prostheses can be created by hand or with computer-aided design (CAD), a software interface that helps creators design and analyze the creation with computer-generated 2-D and 3-D graphics as well as analysis and optimization tools.
Gangrene is a type of tissue death caused by a lack of blood supply. Symptoms may include a change in skin color to red or black, numbness, swelling, pain, skin breakdown, and coolness. The feet and hands are most commonly affected. If the gangrene is caused by an infectious agent, it may present with a fever or sepsis.
Body integrity dysphoria (BID), also referred to as body integrity identity disorder (BIID), amputee identity disorder or xenomelia, and formerly called apotemnophilia, is a rare mental disorder characterized by a desire to have a sensory or physical disability or feeling discomfort with being able-bodied, beginning in early adolescence and resulting in harmful consequences. BID appears to be related to somatoparaphrenia. People with this condition may refer to themselves as transabled.
A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. It is a chronic condition which is often resistant to treatment. When the cut ends of sensory fibres are stimulated during thigh movements, the patient feels as if the sensation is arising from the non-existent limb. Sometimes the patient might feel pain in the non-existent limb. Approximately 80–100% of individuals with an amputation experience sensations in their amputated limb. However, only a small percentage will experience painful phantom limb sensation. These sensations are relatively common in amputees and usually resolve within two to three years without treatment. Research continues to explore the underlying mechanisms of phantom limb pain (PLP) and effective treatment options.
Acrotomophilia is a paraphilia in which an individual expresses strong sexual interest in amputees. It is a counterpart to apotemnophilia, the desire to be an amputee.
Oncideres cingulata, the twig girdler, is a brownish-gray beetle, typically 1⁄2 to 5⁄8 inch in length, in the longhorn beetle family. It is characterized by long antennae, 1⁄2 to 1 inch long.
Onciderini is a tribe of longhorn beetles of the subfamily Lamiinae, they are prevalent across Europe in nations such as Turkey, and Finland.
Oncideres is a genus of longhorn beetles of the subfamily Lamiinae, containing more than 120 species in the nearctic and neotropics.
Oncideres modesta is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Dillon and Dillon in 1946. It is known from Brazil.
Oncideres sparsemaculatus is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Martins and Galileo in 2010. It is known from Guatemala.
Oncideres disiunctus is a species of beetle belonging to the family Cerambycidae. It was first described by Galileo and Martins in 2011.
Oncideres putator is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by James Thomson in 1868.
Oncideres albomarginata is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by James Thomson in 1868. It is known from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Guatemala, Panama, Guyana, Mexico, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Oncideres chevrolatii is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by James Thomson in 1868. It is known from Brazil.
Oncideres crassicornis is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Henry Walter Bates in 1865. It is known from Ecuador, Peru and Brazil.
Oncideres dorsomaculata is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Noguera in 1993. It is known from Mexico.
Oncideres pyrrothrix is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Noguera in 1993. It is known from Mexico.
Oncideres captiosa is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Martins in 1981. It is known from Paraguay and Brazil.
Oncideres gutturator is a species of beetle in the family Cerambycidae. It was described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1775. It is known from Ecuador, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Panama, and French Guiana.
