Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1879-12-25
A SURGICAL TRIUMPH.
Lateral AmpuiatiOn Of the HID JoInt
by the Lister y. ethOd.

Al TIE AloXan Brothers Hospital or
Tuesday morning a very interesting surgi
cal operation was performed on patien,
by one of the medical staff. u.,der the su.
pervision of DIR. Andrew J. Baxter, chie1
surgeon of the institution. The opera.
ton is known as lateral amputation of the
mp Joint. Th" patient had been suffering
for about ten months with cancer in the
thigh, which commenced with a painful
swelling, apparent when one leg was p
inches and the other IL inches in circum-
ference. From that on the terrible ten
cephaloid' increased its crab-like grip of
the sufferers limb, until it had reached TIL
size of an infants head, and weighed some
six pounds. AT this stage his medical ad-
wiser recommended him to those good
Sauiaritans, the scif-tacnying nurses Of the
sick and suffering, known as the Alexian
Brothers. On the 18th inst. he was ad-
mitted to their hospital, and it was decided
as the only means of saving his life, to am
putate the limb from the hip joint.
The operation was performed at 8 a. m..
those present being DR.. A. j. Baxter, DR..
Banga, DR.. Hooper, DIR. Seiffert, and other
medical experts. The patient was first
placed under anesthetic influence, and the
process OF amputation then commenced
by cutting the flesh of the thigh to the
depth of four or five inches, until the bone
was exposed. This bone, the femur, was
then sawed through and the joint exposed.
Then the arteries severed in the cutting
operation were ''taken up and secured to
prevent undue bleeding. From the limb
to be removed ''flap'' of flesh is cut, and |
after the surgeon removed the flesh and |
cut the ligaments, the operation was ended |
by the ''fiap' formed from the side of the |
limb being passed around to be joined to
the other side.
In very plain words and devoid of tech
the above was the whole of the
operation performed.
A remarkable feature of the affair, how
ever, remains to be described.
The whole operation was conducted up-
IN Professor Listers Antispeptic method.
This is founded upon the theory that the
lir filed with germs of microscopic Or
sanisms, which include the genus known
Is the Bacteria. According to Tyndall,
hese germs are brought into active life as
oon as the conditions are favorable for
heir development. With this theory in
'iew, 1t is to be believed that those germs
Ind most congenial soil in open wounds
n parts Of the human frame under the
urgeon's knife, and it 10 believed that the .
which 80 often carries of the
'atient after the best efforts of the sur
'eon have been expended in his behalf. ,
ausing putrefaction and modification, is
ue to these germs. The Lister method,
he discovery of the eminent English sur
con, Professor Joseph Lister, proposed /,
destroy all these germ animalcul@ by |.
onstant showering of solution Of car /.
olic acid, one to twenty of water, with :.
'hich the part of the body to be operated :,
pom is freely wetted. Previous to the
OF the operation the sur
cons hands, his surgical instruments, end
zen the bandages, are thoroughly washed 0
this lotion. For the patient steam .
'ray producer is used, which is operated '
long as the surgeon Is at work. Thus
'e germs are destroyed, not only on the q
atient, but in the surrounding air, and the
suit has nearly always been thoroughly a
tisfactory. p
In the present instance the patient was =
ccessfully treated under this method, and s.
answer to an inquiry as to how he felt,
piled with more heartiness than elegance a
lth the single word, ''Bully!'' p
The worthy Alexian Brothers evince :"
termination to allow no improvement In "a
rgical scieGee to pass unrecognized in 70
cir hospital, and their efforts are, Is in e q
Is instance, often crowned with remark u
le success. Ii
tn