what is the usual procedures during a leg amputation.?

Question

my girlfriends nan is having one today and i want to know the following:-

pre operative precusions
the surgery (what is involved)
after surgery care
medicational needs
advice for the patient and for friends and family
length of the hospital visit ( before the operation and after)
what needs to be arranged after
are there any post operative complications involved with amputations
length of care to be required after surgery
type of care required
length of the operation itself
will there be any need for further surgery after the operation
how serious is a leg amputation and do they usually take the leg off from the thigh or bellow the knee
what is used to take the leg off
can be die from having an amputation and why do people die from the operation
what is the best way to offer support to my girlfriend and her family.

Answer 1

These are questions that can ONLY be answered properly by the surgeons and doctors taking care of the patient.

You won't get any relevant answers at a site like this.

Answer 2

If your friends nan is having a leg amputated, then the doctor will have told her to get plenty of rest before surgery and to be prepared for worst case scenarios---which in some cases after amputation, they can die. The patient will most likely be kept in the hospital for 1-3 days after the surgery and if there are no problems such as excessive bleeding, or infection at the surgery site. The patient will probably have to have someone stay with them for at least the first 24-hour post surgery. Most people that have amputations, if they have no family to look after them, will be sent to a nursing facility where they can receive adequate and proper care. the time of the operations can vary depending on the body part that is being removed and how much of the body limb that is having to be amputated. Leg amputation is very serious, and it really depends on where they cut the leg depending on if it has gangrene in it, or just what the doctor has previously discussed with the patient. Some patients can die from this. If there is gangrene in the leg, or limb that is coming off and when air hits it, it can spread to other areas of the body, but this is very unlikely to happen with all the technological advances that they now have in the medical field.
The best way to offer your support is to tell her that you are praying for them, and if they need your help with anything during this time, reach out to do all that you can. If you love her, she will know by what you do during this time with your family.

Answer 3

First of all, breathe deeply here, it's going to get graphic! 1: Don't eat for 24 hours prior to surgery. NO ALCOHOL! The person has almost ALL of their body shaved(for infection purposes). A catheter inserted because the drugs make you urinate a lot. Either direct I.V. anestetic or gas blow-by. Heart and breathing monitor stickers also. 2: The surgeon makes little lines and marks on the leg to figure out where to cut through skin and bone and where sticthing will go. In some cases, the doctor may even install a temporary drain tube into the leg itself. The doctor cuts trough the skin, tendons, muscles, nerves, bones, and conecting tissue. The remaining parts of the skin, muscles, etc., are then basically folded up and around the bone area, re-connected to their oposite side of the leg and stitched together again. 3: NO SOAKING IN THE BATH TUB!!!! Sponge-bath only(unless things have changed since back then). NO massaging the leg! Bed rest because of the degree of injury to the body. 4: The doctor may prescribe narcotics for pain after hospital leave. While in the hospital, he'll have a I.V. drip he can control himself for the pain. Antibiotics, sometimes anti-coagulantes. Possibly steroids for to help healing. 5: Counseling, a lot of it too. 6: Hospital stays depend on both the doctor and the surgery itself. could be a week, or a month if not longer. 7: 24 hour at-home care for after the surgery and hospial leave. This includes out-patient visits also. 8: Blood loss, nerve sensation loss in the rest of the leg, soem muscle attrophy in that area of the body, infection, and a few other things I can't remember. 9: Time of recovery could be a few months to over a year depending on the person. 10: In-home care required. 11: The operation could take an hour or even three depending on the condition of the leg and patient. 12: There may need to be surgery again if there are complications. 13: A leg amputaion is a MAJOR thing here. You are not only removing part or all of a leg, but your also diminishing to a degree blood volume and supply wiht the loss of a limb. Depending on the efected area(s), the leg hopefully can be removed below the knee. This is the easiest to recover from and orthotics are also simpler too. Please remember though, I'm not a doctor. 14: To remove the leg they use scalples, several different oscillating bone-saws, hemostats, retratcors, staples, cromatic internal stitches(they dissolve inside so you don't have to worry about them), Nylon-based external stitching,sonogram readings. 15: Yes. The shock to the body is incredible. It has happened before that people die from this. 16: Just be there. Talking to G-D has never hurt either.

Answer 4

You sound very worried, mainly in which way to console your girlfriend, above/below the knee would depend on why they are doing the surgery. This is a major operation and extreme care will be taken to ensure that she is well cared for. Pre-op checks, bloodwork etc. There are risks with any surgery these include anaesthetic complications, blood loss and infection. These risks are minimised by the hospital staff by taking precautions, ie, monitoring equip, blood tranfusions, antibiotics. You should expect the surgery to last a few hours and she will probably be in intensive care afterwards. her length of hospital stay depends on her individual recovery and for what provisions have been made for home care.
Supporting your girlfriend is simply being there, make her a nice lunch, a shoulder to cry on, not getting to upset if she wants to shout and yell.

Answer 5

The questions that you require answering, are too complicated and need more space than is convenient here,
I add a link that contains some information which you may find interesting

http://www.vascularsociety.org.
uk/patient/amp.html

You do not state the reason for the amputation, but this link may have information that is of interest as well –

http://diabetes.health.ivillage.com/
diabetesfootleg
/footorlegamputation.cfm

Hope this helps
Matador 89

Answer 6

Prevention is the key....who cares what the surgery is if you don't need to get there and avoid a wheelchair for life.

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Answer 7

Diabetes is usually treated through a combination of diet (low sugar), exercise and medications/insulin. Milder cases can be controlled with just diet an/or exercise while more severe cases require meds or insulin as well.
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Answer 8

This link might give you some answers:

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/UVAHealth/hub_heart/amputati.cfm