The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1883-09-22

In one of the surgical wards of Belle
vue Hospital reporter of the Tribune
was surprised to see about dozen
children lying on their backs, with their
feet bolstered up and their legs incased
in splints and plaster of Paris. The
oldest child in the lot was under five
years of age, while the youngest was
about two years old.
Every one of these children has had
both legs broken" an attendant said.
when were they injuredp" the re-
porter inquired.
Eight of them had their lege broken
to-day in this room," was the reply.
A tall young man with fair hair and
a smiling face, who was introduced as
DIR. Fraser G. Fuller, member of the
Bellevue Hospital surgical staff, said;
81 am responsible for the treatment of
these little ones. They all were either
bow-legged or knock-kneed. Their
limbs we're so much out of shape that
they were hardly able to walk. If they
had been permitted to grow up without
surgical attention they would have be-
come confirmed cripples. They have
been subject to the operation known as
osteotomy. In the case of legged
child an incision is made in the leg, be-
tween knee and the ankle. The skin
and underlying tissues are cut through
with knife as far as the bone. Then
an ordinary carpenters chisel is used.
The bone is cut about two-thirds of the
way through, the chisel being held
somewhat obliquely. As soon as the
chisel is withdrawn the leg is grasped
firmly above and below the cut and the
bone is broken sufficiently to permit the
Strengthening of the limb. Bandages
and splints are applied and set in p1as-
ter to keep the bone in the right position
until the fracture is healed. The treat
ment is similar in the case of knock
kneed child, except that the bone is
broken above the knee.n
How long does it take child to re-
cover from such operationp" ,u
1.-THE bone is set within four weeks
after the fracture, but the child is NOT
permitted to use its limbs much fol
several days after the splints are re.
moved. Walking is allowed by slow
degrees. When the children are able
to run about again, however, their legs
are as straight as those of other boys
''Are not the children liable to loose
their lives while under treatment"
"There is comparatively little danger
in performing such an operation on 9
child under six years of age, but the
risk increases as the child grows older.
have been operating upon all the
bow-legged children we could get here
for II year. None have died, and those
who have been in the hospital long
enough to recover have gone away with
straight limbs" s..ss''7.I5 ##',=
"Do the children suffer much under
the operationP"
"They are put under the influence Of
ether while their limbs are being
Strengthened, and they suffer much less
pain .afterward than a grown person
would under like circumstances. Notice
the way string their heels up above
the level of their heads. That is to pre-.
vent too much circulation of blood in
the legs. 1t prevents Inflammation and
lessons the pain"
The children, who lay on their backs
with their feet in the air, appeared tC
be rather comfortable. One or tive
were fretful, but the nurses said theil
uneasiness was caused by forced mac
ton. Most of the little ones were the
offspring of poor Italians. 1t was sale
that their legs had become crooked be
cause they had been permitted to wall
alone too early and because their bone.
were soft from lack of proper nourish
ment. DIR. Fuller exhibited photo
graphs of several children on whom hi
had performed the operation of osteot
omy within year. Some of the pic
lures were taken before the operation
and others after the children had recov
cred. A comparison of the pictures re-
vealed wonderful improvement. Ii
one set of pictures children were repre-
sented with both legs bowed so badly
that their knees were foot apart whe1
they stood with their feet close together
The other pictures showed the same
children with limbs straight and wei
shaped An increase in height, as wei
as the removal of the deformity, caused
a pleasing transformation. M Y. Tri
bnne. uHt-