Peg leg

Summary

A peg leg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg, especially a wooden one fitted at the knee.[1] Its use dates to antiquity.[2]

Peg leg of Józef Sowiński

History edit

By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peg legs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.[3] Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peg legs,[3] according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a peg leg more comfortable for walking.[4] According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a peg leg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.[5]

Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[6]

Notable peg leg wearers edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Peg leg". Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  2. ^ Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769, page 16
  3. ^ a b Marks, George Edwin (1888), A Treatise on Marks' patent artificial limbs with rubber hands and feet, A. A. Marks, p. 47
  4. ^ Tillmanns, Hermann (1895), Stimson, Lewis Atterbury (ed.), itle The principles of surgery and surgical pathology: general rules governing operations and the application of dressings, D. Appleton and company, p. 128
  5. ^ Teale, Thomas Pridgin (1858), On amputation by a long and a short rectangular flap, pp. 29, 31
  6. ^ Clarke, Carl D. (1965) Prosthetics Standard Arts Press, Butler, Maryland, OCLC 5083790, page 182
  7. ^ ""...he lost his leg at Saint Martin.."". Archived from the original on 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2012-02-20.

Further reading edit

Books edit

  • Murdoch, George and Wilson, A. Bennett (1998) A primer on amputations and artificial limbs C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, ISBN 0-398-06800-3
  • Pitkin, Mark R. (2009) Biomechanics of Lower Limb Prosthetics Springer verlag, New York, ISBN 978-3-642-03015-4
  • Seymour, Ron (2002) Prosthetics and orthotics: lower limb and spinal Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ISBN 0-7817-2854-1
  • Warren, D. W. (2001) James Gillingham: surgical mechanist & manufacturer of artificial limbs Somerset Industrial Archaeology Society, Taunton, England, ISBN 0-9533539-5-8

Articles edit

  • Bliquez, Lawrence J. (1996). "Prosthetics in Classical Antiquity: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Prosthetics". In Haase, Wolfgang (ed.). Philosophie, Wissenschaften, Technik. Wissenschaften (Medizin und Biologie [Forts.]). doi:10.1515/9783110809008-009. ISBN 9783110809008.
  • Cantos, Mae (2005) "Pirates & Peg Legs: a Historical Look at Amputation and Prosthetics" In: Whitelaw, William A. (2005) (editor) Proceedings of the 14h Annual History of Medicine Days Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, pp. 16–20, OCLC 225558769
  • Finch, Jacqueline (2011). "The ancient origins of prosthetic medicine". The Lancet. 377 (9765): 548–549. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60190-6. PMID 21341402. S2CID 42637892.
  • Padula, Patricia A.; Friedmann, Lawrence W. (1987). "Acquired Amputation and Prostheses Before the Sixteenth Century". Angiology. 38 (2): 133–141. doi:10.1177/000331978703800207. PMID 3548491. S2CID 37784673.
  • Reeves, Nicholas (1999) "New lights on ancient Egyptian prosthetic medicine" In: Davies, W. V. (editor) (1999) Studies in Egyptian Antiquities. A Tribute to T.G.H. James British Museum Press, London, pp. 73–77, ISBN 0-86159-123-2
  • Thurston, Alan J. (2007). "Paré and Prosthetics: The Early History of Artificial Limbs". ANZ Journal of Surgery. 77 (12): 1114–1119. doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04330.x. PMID 17973673. S2CID 10255728.
  • Wilson, Philip D. (1922) "Early weight-bearing in the treatment of amputations of the lower limbs"[permanent dead link] The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 4: pp. 224–247