Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. [from Wikipedia] Note that to distinguish this from a minor loss of part of a limb this must include loss of some Bone.
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