3 years, 4 months ago
What do hospitals do with amputated limbs?
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M$1 Answer
Limbs that are surgically removed are generally sent out for pathology testing, to determine if anything can be learned from the tissue, then frozen. The next step is up to the patient or family of the limb, with the option to send the limb to a funeral home for burial or cremation or have the limb sterilized and disposed of as medical waste.
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M$
Finally, someone who knows something. Thank you angieh. I have looked all over the web and have never found anyone who actually answers this correctly. I happen to know this because my father just had both his legs amputated above the knee. Before his surgery he asked for us to find out if he could keep his legs to bury them. The pathology department at our hospital checked with state law (Alabama) and determined that they are allowed to return the limbs to us for processing as we wish. I was also told the normal procedure was for pathology to do their testing and then the limbs would get added with other limbs, etc. and incinerated in a group. Thanks for being tasteful and accurate. :)
My pleasure @dqtreats. I'm glad I could help. :)
It was interesting to know, I never asked myself this question before. I didn't know that you could bury a single limb...