The Intriguing Connection

Artificial Limb Factory during The Civil War

As my Senior Research Project rehearsals commence, I'm concluding my independent research. As you read my conclusion, recall my previous posts because I've used data and sources from those to reach my conclusion.  

From war tents to case studies, bacteria has played its role in altering the environment around it. For soldiers during the Civil War, bacteria nested themselves in the stumps of arms and legs. The post-civil war prosthetic industry changed the experience of the bionic's user. Some veterans claimed that losing a limb was “a small price to pay for the cause”, but their lives were enhanced by the onset of the prosthetic industry.[1] Retailers sold limbs of various craft, and the government gave compensation to wounded soldiers. Nowadays, the healthcare industry understands the importance of surgery under aseptic conditions to prevent fatality in post-amputation or post-implant stages, but still caution is critical in preventing the complications with a bionic device. Throughout history, The Intriguing Connection had links to amputation, but as technology and the understanding of bacteria advances, scientists question relationships and causes of the interference of bacteria between the body and the bionic device.

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[1] Wegner, Ansley. "Phantom Pain: Civil War Amputations and North Carolina's Maimed Veterans." The North Carolina Historical Review 75.3 (1998): 277-96. Print.