In medicine (surgery), hemicorporectomy (/ˌhɛmiˌkɔrpəˈrɛktəmi/; 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.