A flail limb, or "flail arm", is a medical term which refers to an extremity in which the primary nerve has been severed, resulting in complete lack of mobility and sensation. Although blood typically continues to flow through the limb, it is completely useless and generally cannot be surgically repaired. The muscles soon wither away from atrophy, and the arm swings loosely at the side like a literal "dead weight."
Surgeons will usually recommend amputation of the flail limb, with the possibility of replacement with a prosthesis.
Famous quotes containing the word limb:
“... our great-grandmothers were prudes. The reason why they talked so much about their souls, I fancy, is that there was hardly a limb or a feature of the human body that they thought it proper to mention.”
—Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1879–1944)