An articulated wood and leather prosthetic leg of a Slovenian soldier wounded in World War I (1917)
A pegleg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg. Its use dates to antiquity.[1]
A pegleg is a prosthesis, or artificial limb, fitted to the remaining stump of a human leg. Its use dates to antiquity.[1]
By the late 19th century, prosthetics vendors would offer peglegs as cheaper alternatives to more intricate, lifelike artificial legs.[2] Even as vendors touted advantages of more complicated prostheses over simple peglegs,[2] according to a contemporary surgeon, many patients found a pegleg more comfortable for walking.[3] According to medical reports, some amputees were able to adjust to the use of a pegleg so well that they could walk 10, or even 30, miles in one day.[4]
Nowadays, wooden peglegs have been replaced by more modern materials, though some sports prostheses do have the same form.[5]
