Question:easy
What is the level of amputation shown here?
What is the level of amputation shown here?
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The knee joint is still present and the cut is through the leg bones — name the trans-tibial level.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- Below Knee Amputation
- Above Knee Amputation
- Syme's amputation
- Hip disarticulation
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Anatomy-of-the-stump approach.
To name an amputation, locate the bone through which the limb has been divided and check which joints remain.
In the photograph the knee is clearly still present and the limb has been cut across the leg, i.e. through the tibia and fibula. By definition a section through the leg bones with a preserved knee is a trans-tibial or Below Knee Amputation (BKA).
Surgical landmarks confirm this category: the bone is divided roughly a hand's breadth (about $12$-$15$ cm) below the tibial tubercle, the fibula is cut slightly shorter than the tibia, and a long posterior myocutaneous flap (gastrocnemius-soleus) is brought forward to pad the bone end - exactly the kind of stump being bandaged in the image.
Why a BKA is the preferred level: keeping the knee preserves the powerful quadriceps lever and cuts the metabolic energy expenditure of prosthetic ambulation by roughly a third compared with an above-knee amputation, giving far better rehabilitation outcomes.
The other named levels do not fit - an above-knee (trans-femoral) cut would leave no knee, a Syme's amputation sits at the ankle, and a hip disarticulation removes the whole limb at the hip.
Answer: Below Knee Amputation.
To name an amputation, locate the bone through which the limb has been divided and check which joints remain.
In the photograph the knee is clearly still present and the limb has been cut across the leg, i.e. through the tibia and fibula. By definition a section through the leg bones with a preserved knee is a trans-tibial or Below Knee Amputation (BKA).
Surgical landmarks confirm this category: the bone is divided roughly a hand's breadth (about $12$-$15$ cm) below the tibial tubercle, the fibula is cut slightly shorter than the tibia, and a long posterior myocutaneous flap (gastrocnemius-soleus) is brought forward to pad the bone end - exactly the kind of stump being bandaged in the image.
Why a BKA is the preferred level: keeping the knee preserves the powerful quadriceps lever and cuts the metabolic energy expenditure of prosthetic ambulation by roughly a third compared with an above-knee amputation, giving far better rehabilitation outcomes.
The other named levels do not fit - an above-knee (trans-femoral) cut would leave no knee, a Syme's amputation sits at the ankle, and a hip disarticulation removes the whole limb at the hip.
Answer: Below Knee Amputation.
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