Catastrophic injuries may occur at many different junctions in life. Whether at work or in a car, it is impossible to predict entirely when they may happen.
In some severe cases, it is even possible that a person may have to undergo amputation in order to save their life.
Infected tissues
Johns Hopkins Medicine discusses that amputation serves as a medical treatment in some cases. In fact, up to 45 percent of amputations happen due to traumatic injuries.
One of the biggest potential causes of amputation comes from infected tissue. Open wounds may expose the body to harmful bacteria and other pathogens. These can cause dangerous infections to form, which can risk the tissue in the surrounding area and eventually the entire limb.
Limbs with serious damage
Crush injuries can potentially cause damage to a limb beyond the point of salvation. It is possible for these and other injuries to cause so much structural destruction that a surgeon cannot reconstruct or repair it.
Burns cause the same problem, where a serious enough swath of damage can render the limb unsalvageable.
A loss of blood flow to the affected area
Finally, lack of blood flow to an area may render it unsalvageable as well. This is because the tissue immediately begins to die off when deprived of oxygen. Frostbite commonly causes this problem, but having circulation cut off through other means will have the same impact.
Through these problems, a medical team might have to decide whether to try salvaging a limb or amputating it and may choose to go with the latter.
