Equivalent expression to Spanish "cutting by the healthy part"

What would be an equivalent expression to the Spanish "cortar por lo sano", probably something like "cutting by the healthy part", to convey the idea that to solve a problem from spreading, like gangrene, sometimes the solution chosen is to cut deep even through the healthy parts of the limb.

Solution 1:

I'm not sure it fits exactly, but there is a phrase with similar intent in the medical profession: "life over limb". It directly mirrors your gangrene example because you might have to sacrifice part of a healthy limb to save the patient's life.

It is sometimes used beyond the literal meaning as well. For instance, moving a patient with a suspected neck injury might risk paralysis, but might be done anyway when the alternative is certain death. Someone might justify that decision by saying "life over limb."

Solution 2:

A fairly accurate translation would be to make a clean break. Similar idioms include: cash in your chips or cut your losses.

The idea here is that something bad has already occurred, so one must take an extreme or decisive measure to avoid further negative outcomes.

Solution 3:

The nearest one I can think of is "cut out the cancer", though it is more to do with complete elimination than stopping spreading.

cut out the cancer: a figurative expression meaning to eliminate

Another possibility is "root out"