Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Artificial Limbs
People can lose all or part of an arm or leg for a number of reasons. Common ones include:
- Circulation problems from atherosclerosis or diabetes. They may cause you to need an amputation.
- Traumatic injuries, including from traffic accidents and military combat
- Cancer
- Birth defects
If you are missing an arm or leg, an artificial limb can sometimes replace it. The device, which is called a prosthesis, can help you to perform daily activities such as walking, eating, or dressing. Some artificial limbs let you function nearly as well as before.
It sits within Surgery and Rehabilitation.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Artificial Limbs
1,340 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Influence Of A Slope Adaptive Foot On Participation Of Veterans With Lower-Limb AmputationsVA Office of Research and Development
- A Prospective, Post-Market, Clinical Follow-up Study of the Incompass™ Total Ankle SystemStryker Trauma and Extremities
- Functional and Neuroprotective Effects of Restoring Lower Limb Sensation After Diabetic Peripheral NeuropathyVA Office of Research and Development
- Advancing Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy to Prevent Infection in Osseointegrated Prosthesis PatientsDartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
- Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation Versus Standard Surgical Aortic Valve ReplacementCentre Cardiologique du Nord
- Effect of Dual-Task Training on Balance and Fall Risk in Lower Limb Amputees Using ProsthesisKafrelsheikh University
Research already completed
- A Prospective Study Evaluating the Performance of Nanotite Osseotite Implants When Placed by Graduate Student ProgramsZimVie
- Medico-economic Interest of the Patient Matched Cutting Blocks (Ancillary) MyKnee ® LBS During the Poses of Complete Prosthesis of Knee GMK ®. Multicentric, Prospective, Controlled, Opened, Randomised Study About a Medical Device. (My Knee)Nantes University Hospital
- Evaluation of Analgesia by PENG Block Versus Intra-Articular Infiltration in Prosthetic Hip Surgery (API)GCS Ramsay Santé pour l'Enseignement et la Recherche
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- First Step -- A Guide for Adapting to Limb LossAmputee Coalition
- Overview of Limb ProstheticsMerck & Co., Inc.
- Prosthetic FAQs for the New AmputeeAmputee Coalition
Living With
- Living With Residual Limb PainAmputee Coalition
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Amputation, TraumaticNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Artificial LimbsNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Artificial Limbs. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Artificial Limbs, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.