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ThinkBlueCountOneTwo t1_j9e6y2t wrote

Reply to comment by elevenblade in when a limb gets amputated, how do they stop the flow of blood? by EnchantedCatto

Would an amputee (or double, triple, quadruple amputee for eg) have increased blood flow to the rest of the body since there is less "body" that the heart needs to pump to? Or does the heart just work less hard?
Are there positive/negative side effects because of this?

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bonerfiedmurican t1_j9g2fif wrote

Depends on the size of amputation. A pinky toe? No different. Both legs at the hip? Yeah they can run into some cardiac issues which there are theories about why. I've attached a very topical paper on this if you'd like to read. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18281705/

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Ronaldoooope t1_j9hm0ab wrote

In a lot of cases the reason they got an amputation was decreased blood flow (diabetics) so they likely just normalize in that case lol

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Delicatebody t1_j9hrfa5 wrote

What is the part about the “patients’ devious behavior” referring to?

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esobofh t1_j9lxac3 wrote

in this case deviant behavior means alcohol consumption or eating disorders.

Imaging if you were able to drink a whole 26oz bottle of vodka without issue, and then you then had half of your body removed. attempting to drink the same amount would be like drinking double what you had been, since you have half the body left to absorb and buffer the effects of alcohol. Could be a recipe for death. Same as with food.. with half a body, you don't need to eat as much, and so you could literally eat yourself to death.

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MiniMooseMan t1_j9hs0hz wrote

Could they... drain them a bit? Blood is made in the bones, and if you got a few fewer bones, technically you could have slightly less to pass around lol

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dryingsocks t1_j9hz8i2 wrote

blood isn't made at a constant rate but as needed, otherwise donating blood would permanently lower your blood pressure

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SchlauFuchs t1_j9hzt24 wrote

it is not so much the amount of blood that is the problem but that the heart is used to pump against a given flow resistance and that resistance changes with the number of reduced "consumers". It is a little like with the electrical grid, when large consumers suddenly go offline/online, the power plants have to adjust their generation to not cause a systemic failure.

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CompleteNumpty t1_j9g9kb2 wrote

The calves actually work as secondary pumps for the cardiovascular system (specifically helping to return blood upwards towards the heart).

As such, the loss of one or more calves has a detrimental effect on your cardiovascular health, with many countries treating below knee amputees as if they have heart disease.

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edjumication t1_j9hfkwc wrote

Interesting! I knew about the calve thing from my interest in spaceflight but I didn't know about the heart disease thing.

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natgibounet t1_j9hi7ml wrote

Wich countries ?

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CompleteNumpty t1_j9hl0av wrote

I was just going off what my old prosthetics lecturer told us, but the UK and USA definitely do. The exact action taken (preventative medication and exercise programmes vs routine monitoring of cardiac function) may differ within the countries due to different states, health boards etc.

To be honest I'd be amazed if any Western country didn't have some sort of policy to monitor or preventatively treat amputees, as the increased risk of heart disease is well-known.

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natgibounet t1_j9hma2j wrote

I should look into it, i'm surprised i never heard that even though i live in a western european country

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CompleteNumpty t1_j9hn73i wrote

As a significant quantity of amputations (maybe even most) aren't a result of trauma, but due to things like diabetes or peripheral vascular disease, a lot of amputees will already be getting treated/monitored for heart disease, which will muddy the waters.

I tried to find a source for you, but I struggled to find anything other than a few studies confirming the increased risk in traumatic amputation patients.

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