16
REPORT ON THE
29. It will be seen that the total number of an important character
has slightly increased, being 2,080 in 1890, as against 1,926 in the previous
year. The minor operations have fallen off during the year from 20,933
to 19,956, the decrease being principally at the Medical College Hospital,
and is probably due to the changes which take place from time to time in the
Resident and House Surgeons of that institution, some of whom take a greater
interest in surgery than others.
30. Among the major operations there were 88 deaths, or at the rate of
39 per mille, which is the same as it was in 1889. In 1880 the mortality, after
operations at the Calcutta hospitals, was 91 per mille, and in 1881 it was 86 per
mille, so that the present death-rate of 39 may be looked upon as a great
improvement, and indicates the advance which has been made in surgical practice
in recent years.
31. Looking at particular institutions, we find that at the Medical College
Hospital there was a slight increase in the number of major operations, the
numbers being 1,447 in 1890 and 1,414 in 1889. Most of these occurred in the
wards of the 1st and 2nd Surgeons and the Opthalmic Surgeon, and many of
them were of a very important character, as may be seen from the following
list of some of them :—
Cataract extraction
...
..
... 269
Lithotomy
...
...
. . .
6
Litholopaxy
. . .
. . .
...
1 8
Laparotomy
. . .
. . .
. . .
9
Ovariotomy
. . .
. . .
...
11
Gastrostomy
. . .
..
. . .
1
Enterectomy
. . .
...
...
1
Herniotomy
. .
.
...
...
11
Radical cure of hernia . . .
. . .
. .
31
Trephining
. . .
. . .
. . .
7
Laryngotomy
. . .
. . .
. . .
1
Laryngo tracheotomy ...
...
. . .
1
Amputations
. . .
. . .
...
48
The operators were Brigade Surgeons MacLeod and Raye, Surgeons-Major
Sanders, Joubert and Tomes, and Surgeons Adie, Edwards and Pilgrim. There
was some advance, but very little, made during the year in allotting operations
to the House Surgeons and senior students, and as I alluded to this matter in
my last report, I will only express my regret that more opportunities
are not afforded them to perform operations, the result being that the Medical
College of Calcutta turns out Assistant Surgeons whose practical knowledge and
experience in this direction is vastly inferior to that of the students of the
Lahore College. It is very satisfactory to find that Miss V. M. Mittra performed
one amputation at the Medical College Hospital, the second instance recorded
of a major operation having been performed at this institution by a lady
student. The following shows the number of operations performed by the
House Surgeons :—
Assistant Surgeon Sham Nirode Dass Gupta ...
... 10
,, ,, Daudur Rahman
...
... 21
,, ,, Lala Golak Chundra
...
...
1
The death-rate after operation at the Medical College Hospital was 29
per mille, against 31 per mille in the previous year, which speaks well for
the improved methods of treatment adopted at this institution and the skill
of the operators.
32. Presidency General Hospital.—At this institution 51 major operations
were performed, against 47 in the previous year, the principal operators being
Surgeon-Major Crombie and Surgeons ffrench-Mullen, Walsh, and Adie.
33. At the Campbell Hospital there were 169 major operations, against 159
in 1889, which were chiefly performed by Assistant Surgeon Zuhuruddin,
the Teacher of Surgery ; but 54 of the total number were also performed
by Assistant Surgeons Gonesh Chunder Mitter, Lalit Mohun Laha, Sris Chunder
Sirkar, Khetter Pal Chuckravarti, Akhoy Kumar Nundi, Upendra Narain Roy,
Gopal Chunder Mukerji, and Kali Prosuno Banerji. I am sorry to record
that the operative surgery at this hospital was not so successful as might