special subjects
Overview of Limb Prosthetics
Introduction
A limb prosthesis is an artificial limb that replaces a missing body part. The main causes of limb amputation are Vascular disease (particularly from diabetes and peripheral arterial disease) Cancer Injury (eg, motor vehicle or work-related accident, military combat) Congenital anomaly In the US, slightly over 0.5% of people are currently living with the loss of a limb, and about 500 amputations are done each day. This percentage is likely to increase because of the aging of the population and the associated increase in the incidence of diabetes mellitus and vascular disease. 