Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2021 July 13

= July 13 =

Amputation without general anaesthetic
In David Lange I read : On 2 August, he had his lower right leg amputated without a general anaesthetic, as a result of diabetes complications.

I'm not sure of the parsing. I understand that limb loss is a risk with diabetes, but are they saying his diabetes made it impossible or ill-advised for him to have a general anaesthetic for the operation? Is this a common circumstance, and what do they do to reduce the patient's pain? Local anesthetic? --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  02:32, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
 * All the answers seem to be in the cited source: "Mr Lange's poor health precluded general anaesthesia. Amputations without it were 'very, very rare' " and "he was sedated and given nerve blockers so he would feel no pain when his lower leg, the foot gangrenous as a result of diabetes, was removed below the knee." Meters (talk) 02:38, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Better that than how they used to do amputations. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 03:05, 13 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Thanks. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  05:10, 13 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Nowadays the leg would be anaesthetised by an epidural injection. I know someone who had a hip replacement operation with an epidural anaesthesia and stayed awake throughout the op. No pain whatsoever was felt Richard Avery (talk) 09:48, 18 July 2021 (UTC)