Relating to or involving amputation; tending to amputate or remove.
From Latin amputare + -ive (tending to or relating to). Creates an adjective describing the quality or nature of amputation.
Some surgical techniques are called 'amputative' as opposed to 'salvage' techniques—this language reveals a crucial ethical debate in medicine about when to save a limb versus when removal is actually the more compassionate choice.
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