Existing comment:
Prosthetics:
Civil War surgeons understood that trying to clean grisly bullet and shrapnel injuries was often futile. In many cases, amputation proved to be a more effective treatment for irreparable arm and leg wounds. Union and Confederate surgeons performed thousands of amputations, and more than 45,000 soldiers from both sides survived the procedure. Advances in new prosthetics, both custom-made and mass-produced, gave these veterans an improved quality of life. |