The physical examination of amputees: manipulating and touching the patient's body

The contribution proposes the analysis of the physical examination of the patients’ body during specialized visits at a centre for prosthesis construction and application. The analysis aims at showing how the physical examination, and particularly the touching of the patient’s injured limb(s), is introduced, and how touch and visual inspection are intertwined. The analysis will investigate the relationship between two types of diagnostic touch : the visual diagnostic touch, which is mainly in the service of the doctors’ inspection, and the tactile diagnostic touch, which aims at soliciting the patient local and momentarily experience in terms of pain and/or discomfort. The analysis will focus on the structure – form and duration – of the two types of touching and on how doctors and patients manage the transition from one to the other. The consequences of the two types of touching for the patients’ participation will also be investigated.