Civil War Prosthetics

The Renaissance time period was one of considerable advancement. After individuals started dissecting humans, knowledge of diseases and knowledge of these cures increased greatly. This occurred through individuals being naturally curious about the world around them. The surgical tools during the Renaissance included scalpels, a small and extremely sharp bladed instrument, as well as dilators, and bone saws. A frequent surgical instrument also used was a catlin, a long double-bladed knife used in amputations and could later be referred to as an interosseous knife. A rather ghastly tool used was an amputation knife. This curved knife would make a circular cut through the skin and muscle before the bone was cut with a saw.  However, this was later

How were injured soldiers treated during the circus war? How does our medical treatments now compare to how they were treated before? Did the way injured soldiers were treated have to do with the cause of their death? Wounds were treated very differently to how they’re treated now and it always makes people wonder how people still survived and were able to live longer. It all reflects on technology, transportation, antiseptic practices, and surgical techniques. Throughout war and history more soldiers died from diseases than they did from injuries and often the medical treatments they would get for their injuries wouldn’t make them better but worse and it was what caused more deaths.

During the war, many patients died from blood loss while waiting for treatment or during surgery. This

Many soldiers who survived their infection and an amputation wanted artificial limb. Although artificial limps have been made since the 1500s, the Civil War caused a great demand for artificial limps. In some cases, veterans could stand again with proper artificial limbs and other times with a cane also. This caused the industry of artificial limps to advance greatly. Artificial limbs were very important, because the demand for agriculture had skyrocketed, since leaving for war. Artificial limbs arms did not offer much purpose, however it made a missing limp less noticeable in public. Artificial limbs were high in demand and it was offered in some states like North Carolina. Expect for artificial arms because, they were seen as less needed then any other limbs. However, artificial limbs were considered to be greatly uncomfortable making

John Burford, a Brigadier General, had received a bullet to the knee during the Second Battle of Manassas. Luckily Buford’s bullet wound wasn’t too serious. If the wound had been serious, it would have been treated with amputations and since there were no anesthetics back then, the person getting amputated on would feel all the pain. Surgeries during the Civil War were performed unsanitary. Surgeons would not wash their hands before operating and would wear blood splattered clothing. The instruments used for operating were never disinfected properly. Instead, they would dip their instruments in cold water, often bloody from the prior operation. Buford had died in December 1863 of

The Civil War, also called The War Between the States, was one of the bloodiest wars in American history. What made the Civil War such a massacre? The Civil War was such a bloodbath because the technological advances were so far superior to the tactics of the infantry, that the weapons virtually obliterated the soldiers. Soldiers would form lines known as a battalions. In these battalions, soldiers would basically march to their deaths. In addition to weapons doing so much damage, fortification on the battlefield was far more advanced than had ever been before. The Cheveau-de-frise was the main focus of armored fortification in the Civil War. This fortification consisted of 10 to 12 foot

Immediately after hearing the news about Kilrain’s death due to his injuries, the Confederates began to open fire. Chamberlain hid behind the stone wall, where he goes in and out of consciousness due to blood loss from his foot. Had Chamberlain properly got his wound treated, according to ehistory.osu.edu, the treatment would have been at least a day or two, at the most. The surgeon would then clean/wash out the wound with a cloth and then prod the wound with his finger, searching for any remnants of the cloth, tissue, or bone. Furthermore, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov explains that the regimental surgeon would then dress the wound, and would later be carried out in an ambulance driven by the Marine Corps to be taken to a division level field hospital for surgical treatment, if needed. Consequently of Chamberlain not getting required treatment, as also stated by ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, this consequence would eventually lead to “...gross tissue destruction that was an excellent medium for infection.” Also mentioned by muttermuseum.org, gunshot wounds to the ankle would often do very well, but would require long treatment. Although Chamberlain’s wounds were not to the ankle, but to the foot, his mortality rate would be low, because amputation would always be another probable answer if treatment did not work.

Let’s go way back, all the way to 1861, the beginning of the Civil War. The Civil War was a battle between the Confederacy (south) and the Union (north). This was a battle to end slavery in the south. There were about 1,264,000 soldiers that died, and about 644,000 people were injured. As you may know, our medical field has drastically improved over the years since then. But back at that time, there wasn’t a lot that was yet to be known. As the Civil War progressed in its dreadful ways and occurrence of common wounds, that would be the main topic that will be addressed. Now sit back and relax, as we take a trip back to the past of battlefield medicine during the Civil War.

The Civil War (1861-1865) was a time of great technology change. There was a very large amount of deaths during this time as well. The Union deaths amounted to about 360,000 men and the Confederate losses were avergerd to about 258,000. The main reason for this many deaths was because of the small amount of weapons both sides had. The Civil War was the time that very many military inventions were thought of or made. The telegraph and railroad are two of the biggest things that were invented during the Civil War. The telegraph made it easier for comunication and the railroad was a quicker way for the troups to transfer from one place to another. There were many other weapons that were made during this war, such as the submarine and the repeating

To obtain a medical degree during the Civil War, one only had to apprentice with a local physician, received practically no clinical experience, and they just had to take a few courses at a proprietary medical college. Amputations were the most common surgeries performed during the Civil War. An amputation consisted of the removal of a person's arm or leg due to infection or severe injury. Military surgeons learned to amputate and perform a wide variety of procedures as they were actively engaged in conflicts. Most Civil War surgeons had never even treated a gunshot wound or even performed a surgery. Due to the lack of education, nurses would volunteer to be present during surgeries even though they knew very little about what was going on. Working against incredible odds, however, the medical corps increased in size, improved its techniques, and began to gain a better understanding of medicine and disease every

During the first six sifts of my clinical practice at Eagle Ridge Hospital I provided care to a 62 year old male patient with bilateral below the knee amputation. The patient has a history of osteomyelitis related to the poorly controlled diabetes type II. The left foot was amputated two years ago. The left stump was well healed. However, the patient had been suffering from the phantom limb pain controlled by gabapentin. The right foot was amputated a month ago. The right stump was healing well. The edges of the wound were well approximated, with small amount of serous exudate. The dressing was to be changed daily as per doctor's order. The type of dressing was specified by the wound care nurse.

One of the highly praised Renaissance surgeons was Ambroise Pare because he gave a “conventional account of the ‘five duties’ of his art: ‘to remove what is superfluous, to restore what has been dislocated, to separate what grown together, to reunite what has been divided and to redress the defects of nature’”(Porter, p.188). Pare was a barber-surgeon who had gotten a plethora of experience during his tending of the wounded from war. In fact, it was during the treatment of the battlefield that he learned gunpowder and shot weren’t poisonous as everyone had presumed. Another one of his discoveries was the use of ligatures when performing an amputation.

The outcome of these patients is dramatically influenced by the quality of the treatment in the first hours after the trauma, and in particular the very frequent concomitant systemic factors of aggravation, which arterial hypotension and hypoxia, in addition to the delay in diagnosis of surgical wounds. In the last few decades have made ​​considerable progress in

Surgeons have learned surgical fundaments of trauma management from military experience probably since the dawn of human history (3), but also, we know that it is difficult to draw conclusions for civil trauma management from studies with military settings. Since World War I when most patients were managed expectantly, mortality was reported approximately 11% the principal causes were exsanguination and airway obstruction (4). Dr. Fogelman in 1956 proposed early neck exploration for penetrating neck injuries lowering mortality rates to 6%. This concept leads to an early surgical therapy and neck exploration for suspected vascular injuries. Based on these experiences mandatory

Imagine for one moment that you are living in the 1800’s and are in need of medical help. During this time surgeons were known for the treating of wounds, amputations, and treatment of broken bone. Picture yourself lying on a dirty cot, or soiled table waiting for the surgeon to come in. When he finally enters he is wearing a bloody, dirty apron and informs you that the only option is to remove your limb. He calls in for help in holding you down and picks up a stained saw and prepares to remove your leg. Your mind flashes back to the numerous people who came before you and died shortly after having this procedure done. Will you die during the operation or like so many others survive only to succumb to fever and gangrene and die after?