What is "hemicorporectomy"

n. (context surgery English) The surgical procedure which cuts through the spine and removes the lower half of the body from the waist down.

In medicine ( surgery), hemicorporectomy hem'ē-kōr'pō-rek'tŏ-mē (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.