16
REPORT ON THE
39.
Operative Surgery.— The number of important operations performed
during the year has fallen from 1,561 in 1886 to 1,488 in 1887, while the minor
operations have also decreased from 19,040 to 16,487 in these two years
respectively. Of the former, including 106 remaining at the beginning of the
year, 81 only proved fatal, or at the rate of 50.81 per mille, against 64.07 in
1886.
40. As regards the Medical College Hospital, 34 major operations remained
under treatment at the close of the year 1886, and 310 operations were
performed during the year 1887, giving a total of 344. Of these, 268 were
cured, 5 relieved, 26 died, and 45 remained under treatment at the close
of the year. These figures relate only to the wards of the First and Second
Surgeons. In the Obstetric ward 132 operations were performed in 1887, which
with three remaining of the previous year, formed a total of 135. Of these,
102 were cured, 11 were relieved, 20 died, and 2 remained. In the Ophthalmic
ward 434 were performed in the year under report. It will be seen from
statement VIII that many of the operations performed in the above-mentioned
wards were of a most important and difficult nature, requiring the highest surgical
skill for their proper performance, and there can be no doubt that the great
reputation which this hospital has acquired as a school for practical surgery
has been fully maintained during the past year by the eminent surgeons
attached to it. Among the more important operations may be mentioned the
following :—
Cases.
Extraction of lens for cataract
...
...
...
197
Lithotomy
...
...
...
...
...
5
Lithotrity
...
...
...
...
...
1
Litholopaxy
...
...
...
...
...
13
Refracture of bones
...
...
...
...
1
Abdominal section
...
...
...
...
3
Colotomy
...
...
...
...
...
1
Perineal sections ...
...
...
...
...
31
Ovariotomies
...
...
...
...
...
6
Removal of large scrotal tumours
...
...
...
16
Plastic operations
...
...
...
...
12
Herniotomy
...
...
...
...
...
10
41. I understand that most if not all the operations at this hospital were
performed by the European Surgeons, and it seems to me that a portion of
them might with advantage be allotted to the Assistant Surgeons.
42. At the General Hospital, which is chiefly a medical institution, there
have been very few operations of any consequence.
43. The record of the Campbell Hospital shows that 162 major operations
were performed during the year, but about a fourth of these consisted of
opening of abscesses, and another fourth of tappings of the chest and abdomen.
An effort ought to be made to increase the number and variety of the
operations at this hospital, to which there is attached a medical school with
a large staff of Assistant Surgeons. How is it possible for the students to
acquire a knowledge of operative surgery when there is so little of it to be
seen in the hospital ? The present Lecturer on Surgery, Assistant Surgeon
Zuhuruddin, has performed during the last three years some operations for
cataract and other affections with a very fair measure of success, and if he
were only to exert himself a little more, he would soon attract many surgical
cases of interest and importance to the hospital.
44. Mayo Institutions.—The surgical work at the Mayo Hospital is charac
- t e r i s e d b y a l a r g e n u m b e r o f o p e r a t i o n s r e n d e r e d n e c e s s a r y b y i n j u r i e s , a s
might be expected from its situation close to the shipping of the port.
There were 372 operations in 1887, against 303 in 1886 and 314 in 1885.
and some of these were of a very important character, such as 60 cases of
cataract, 31 amputations, and 16 litholopaxies.
45. But a very peculiar feature in the returns of this hospital and its
branches is the enormous number of cases of dislocation of bones, which are