In medicine (surgery), hemicorporectomy (also referred to as
translumbar amputation, corporal transection, hemisomato-tmesis,
or "halfectomy", ) is a radical surgery in which the body below
the waist is amputated, transecting the lumbar spine. This
removes the legs, the genitalia (internal and external), urinary
system, pelvic bones, anus, and rectum. It is a severely
mutilating procedure recommended only as a last resort for
patients with severe and potentially fatal illnesses such as
osteomyelitis, tumors, severe traumas and intractable decubiti
in, or around, the pelvis. It has only been reported a few dozen
times in medical literature. The nomenclature is somewhat at
odds with generally accepted anatomical terms, as hemi is
generally used to refer to one of two sides (e.g., hemiplegia,
which affects the arm and leg on one side of the body). In that
sense, paracorporectomy might more closely reflect the nature of
the procedure. The development of surgical medicine was vastly
accelerated during, and followi