Amputations and Artificial Limbs in the Civil War

This segment discusses amputation procedures in field hospitals on Civil War battlefields. A museum staff member provides an amputation demonstration. Artifacts include surgical kits and post-war artificial limbs.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Confederacy
• Civil War
• Amputation
• Surgery
• history
• documentary

[PKhong972]

Being a pre-med student this is one of most gruesome things I've heard in a while. Tell you what, if I was there you better knock me out because just the sight and sound alone could send your body in to what a known as a false shock and you will actually feel the pain as if it was real not that I wasn't real. =/

[CassieDynomite]

Gross man

[AUG351]

@SamuelDMorgan But the South especially didn't have as much chloroform as the North and was many times limited to only the higher ranking officers and generals but most men had to just use whisky or even just bite on a bullet and take the pain.

[ClassicRockfan79]

@SamuelDMorgan my question is was there any type of pain medication or pills back then for after the amputation, or was it just a shot of wiskey when the pain hit?

[SamuelDMorgan]

@pal98111 the vast majority of wounded soldiers would be put to sleep with chloroform.

[pensfan1896]

slipknotmaggotful they would soak a rag in a almost alchohalic chemical to knock you out but most doctors didnt have it so they would be awake

[ghetty78]

You talk about pain!

[slipknotmaggotful]

were there any numbing methods?

[mrelliottjackson]

@pal98111 yes, chloroform and Ether were common anaesthetics along with the traditional whisky

[zmachine159]

ya they used chloroform and ether almost 95% of the time. Surgeries were delayed if they didn't have enough. And the times they didn't used anesthetic were usually when there was a head or neck wound, and they thought the anesthetic's would kill them. Check out the channel nmcwm or the national museum of civil war medicine. There is some great info on period medicine.