The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1881-09-01
The Presidents Wound.
WASHINGTON, August %.

VACdANdIONs august ~
In an interview with representative Of
the press this afternoon DR.. Bliss gave in
substance the following account Of the re-
cent exploration of the Presidents wound
by means Of flexible rubber catheter, ref
erence to which was made for the first time
In the noon bulletin to-day:
Since the operation Of the Sth of August
no drainage tube has been used in the
wound. At the morning and evening dress
ings, however, . small flexible rubber tube
ABOUT quarter Of an inch in diameter was
introduced, and weak solution of carbolic
acid and water forced through it to cleanse
the wound and bring out the accumulated
pus. Up to yesterday morning the SUR
geons had been unable to pass the tube
beyond point distant three and =
nali or four inches from the mouth
OF the last incision. At that point
always met with an obstruction
which could not be overcome without the
exertion of force, and force the surgeons
ala not think it prudent to employ. The
apparent frmness of this obstacle finally
leo the surgeons to believe the depths Of the
wound had healed, or at least the track Of
the ball had healed at point where the
RUBBER catheter was stopped. A few days
since, however, it was noticed that the
quantity OF pus discharged by the wound at
one OF the regular dressings was greater
IMAM the quantity Of water which the wound
would hold after the pus had been removed.
Ihls clearly indicated one of two things
VIZ: either that the pus, which was in
excess OF the apparent capacity of the
wound, came from concealed and unsus-
pected cavity, or that the surgeons were
mistaken in supposing the depths of the
wound to have healed. 1t also indicated
that the obstruction which prevented the
passage OF the catheter did not interfere with
the How OF pus outward from the deeper
and unhealed interior. The low temperature
OF the patient negatived the theory of pus
cavity, and the surgeons therefore came to
the conclusion that the deeper parts Of the
wound must still be open, and that the ex-
cess OF pus which could not be otherwise ac-
counted for must have come from there,
Notwithstanding the apparent obstruction
encountered by the catheter.
On Thursday DR.. Bliss made q long ex-
animation of the wound, but was still un-
able to get the tube deeper than about
three and half inches. On Friday morn.
ing, however, during the dressing Of the
wound, small piece of cellular tissue, a
piece about as large as the end of ones lit
tie finger, sloughed off or became detached,
and was washed out with the pus. This
fragment of tissue had apparently been half
detached for some time, and had
acted as sort Of rude valve at
the point where the track of the ball
seemed to be obstructed, closing it against
the catheter and against water from the
outside, but opening to pressure from the
inside. and allowing the outflow of pus from
the deeper parts of the wound. Upon the
removal of this fragment of tissue. DIR. Bliss
again introduced a flexible rubber tube,
and. finding it no longer encountered re-
sistance. passed it in. as already stated, to a
distance of twelve and a-half inches. AL
most the entire track of the ball was then
thoroughly washed out and cleansed. The
pus which came from this deeper part Of
the wound, although not localsin quality,
was unusually white, and was perfectly
healthy in character. 1t was, in fact, better
pus than that secreted by the more superb
cial parts Of the wound. If any septic faint
has passed into the patients blood, it orig
mated not in the pus, which has been en-
tirely protected from the air, but from that
secreted in the suppurating surface
between the recent obstruction and the
mouth of the incision. Nothing new with
regard to the location Of the ball has beer
learned, DR.. Bliss said, from the passage o.
the catheter to this depth. The tube wa.
SO soft that one could Judge approximate,
the direction which it had taken. 1t passed
downward and forward toward the point ir
the anterior wall Of the abdomen, where il
had always been supposed to lie, and thai
was the most that could be affirmed. .
DR.. Hamilton thought, he said, that The
end of the tube lacked about five inches o.
reaching the ball, and the intervening space
had healed. In his (Dr. Bliss') opinion
however, the distance from the end of tn.
tube 10 the ball was not so great.