Here are a few pictures of the "Hernstein and Son" knife. Is this an amputation knife?
thank you
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It looks like a double edged knife? In which case it is a Catlin knife which was used in the flap amputation procedure to create the flaps. If it's a single edged knife, it's a Liston knife. Both kinds were used in the amputation procedure - just for different parts of the operation. For what it's worth, I have always wanted a CW period Catlin or Liston knife.
The first step in any amputation was to anesthetize the patient. Next a tourniquet was applied or, if the amputation was to be performed at the shoulder or the hip, where a tourniquet wasn't possible, the surgeon assigned an assistant to hold pressure on the artery.
The amputation itself was performed in three basic steps:
1. Incision of the skin.
2. Incision of the muscle.
3. Section of the bone.
Single Edged Liston Knife
The single edged Liston knife was used for steps 1 and 2. Using Liston amputation knife, the surgeon commences the incision around the limb as follows: "...with the heel of the knife, giving slightly sawing motions, and brings the hand under the limb, and then directly upwards upon the side next to the operator, until the heel touches the point of commencement. The skin is raised from the first layer of muscles by dissection, and drawn upwards, two or three inches, according to the diameter of the limb, like the cuff of a coat."
Next the surgeon needed to perform step 2 to get the muscle back out of the way. The first layer of muscles is divided at the margin of the retracted integument, in the same manner as the incision of the skin is executed; this layer is raised with the knife, and drawn still further upwards; and the last layer of muscles is divided down to the bone by the same sweep of the knife as before given. Then for step 3, the bone was severed using a bone saw.
Then when it came time to close a flap amputation, the surgeon would use the Catlin.
Double Edged Catlin Knife
If yours is a double edged knife, it is a Catlin which was used in flap amputations to create the flaps that would cover the stump of the amputated limb. The Catlin was also used in excisions where a section of damaged bone was removed and the limb closed with a hope and a prayer that the bone ends would eventually unite.
Lots more info with pictures is available here. The photos are gruesome, but are of a pig not a human patient.
NOTE: This thread is not for the squeamish. AMPUTATION 101 - In this thread, I'll explain basic Civil War amputation methods and the instruments used to perform them. Ill cover two basic types of amputation - circular and flap amputation. Different knives were used and the skin was cut...
civilwartalk.com
And here's a thread specifically about Catlin knives.
The Catlin (also known as catling or interosseous knife) is a double-bladed surgical knife which was used to cut the tissue between two adjacent bones during a resection or amputation operation. The muscles, vessels, and nerves lodged in the interosseous spaces still remain to be cut; their...
civilwartalk.com
And finally a thread about the surgeon's dilemma - amputation vs. excision
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/surgeons-dilemma-amputation-vs-excision.155907/
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