Adjustive and Affective Responses of School-Aged Children to a Leg Amputation

Authors

  • Judith Anne Ritchie

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the adjustive and affective responses of children undergoing a leg amputation and to determine whether the responses followed an expectable pattern. Five school-aged children undergoing leg amputation were observed and interviewed for nine to fifteen days. METHODOLOGY THE SUBJECTS The subjects were four girls and one boy ranging in age from ten to fourteen years. They had had no previous serious health problem prior to the onset of the illness which necessitated the amputation. The girls had Osteogenic Sarcoma which was being treated by amputation. The boy had sustained a fractured femur and severed femoral artery when struck by an automobile. An attempt to anastomose the femoral artery was unsuccessful and amputation became necessary five days after the accident.

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Published

1977-04-13

Issue

Section

Articles