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Peg leg

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Peg leg of Józef Sowiński

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]

History

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Nowadays, wooden peg legs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[6]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

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References

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  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.), Title 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

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Books

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  • 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

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