St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1885-02-19
Successful Removal of Tumor
Cocoaine Used with Electricity.


A delicate and highly successful
operation was recently performed in
New York by DR.. Clarence G.. Rice,
which demons trated the wonderful add
vance that surgery has made in the
last few years.
The patient, middle-aged man, has
| been for many years Il teacher in the
public schools of Newark. For the
last two years he has been troubled
with IL difficulty in the throat which
has been variously diagnosed by ply
slcldns, one prominent in the profess
ion having pronounced it IL case of hay
| fever, and treated it as such without,
| of course ettecting Il cure. Medicine
! failed to give any relief and the pa
tient gradually lost flesh and strength
until lie became alarmed at his cOndi--
| ton and came to this city for advice.
y large tumOr was discovered. Its
base was attached to the mucous mem
! brane at the top. of the nasal passage
Just to the rear of the two openings
leading into the nose. The tumor had
also grown forward into the left nOstril,
and covered the opening into the right,
sOthat no breath could he taken through
the nose, and the mouth hung wide
open nearly all the time. An opera
ton was advised and week later APP
pointed as the time.
The removal of IL tumOr of this sort
was formerly Il most serious affair and
usually ended in death. The patient
first had TO be etherized. As II pre-
liminary step the windpipe was opened
externalIy and Il tTachrOtomy tube liz
serted therein, So that the patient
could breath through it, after the
mouth and throat had been packed
firmly with cotton, to prevent the
blood from running into. the lungs. !
Then an inciSiOn was made from a
point near the inner corner of the eye
along the side Of the hose, through the |
upper lip, and the cheek was dissected !
up and laid back from the bone. The |
upper jaw-bOne was cut through and |!
section removed sufficiently large to
permit the tumOr To he handled. A I
knife was applied to the root of the !.
tumOr and it was cut Oft or forcibly |
torn out with forceps. The great dan
ger was from hemorrhage, on account I
of the large number of blood vessels |
located in this region, and great diff
Guilty was experienced in binding and |.
tying lacerated arteries in the small |
space exposed to view. Surgical |
science has advanced to such an ex-
tent thai now, III the treatment of
these cases, ut least, the surgeons I
knife, the etherizng cone, and the I
dread that affected both patient and !
surgeon alike are happily laid aside t
forever.
The school teacher came to the sur !
geon's office, and was placed in an OPP !
II, |. 4
as far backward as ease and comfort !
would permit. The mucous membrane
OF the mouth, throat, tongue, nostrils +
and rear nasal passage was painted |
with small camels hair brush, that !
had been saturated in 1 per cent. So
luton of the hydrochlOrate of cocOaine.
This was kept up for about ten min
utes, and the parts were found to be
in a state of perfect anRsthesia. An
elastic probe, to the end of which was
fastened piece of whip cord, was
gently forced through the left nostril
until it appeared in the throat. The
cord was then seized with "a pair of for
ceps and drawn through the mouth.
one end being left suspended from the
nose. To this eud fine piece of plati- /
mum wire bent i'll the form of IA loop was
attached, and slowly. drawn through
the uostIil until it was seen glistening
III the PATIENTS throat. The tuInor WAS
then drawn as far into the mouth as
possible, and the platinum loop was
forced upward around it, being pulled
the nostril at the same time,
until ii reached the point where the
tumor was suspended. The portion of
the wire which ran from the tumOr
through the nose was insulated with
two small tubes that had heen heavily
wound with silk thread, SO that the .
only portion Of it that WAS exposed
was that which touched the tum0r.
The two ends of the wire which hung.
about six inches from the nostrils,
were then attached tn a peculiarly con-
structed handle ti;an vas coupled tn a
yalvano- caHtery battery. BY turning
4 wheel and ratchet attachment tliei.
platinum loop was drawn tightly
around the neck at the tuluOr.
Everything being in readiness, an
electric current was sent thrOugii the =:
wire. In an instant the uninsnIatedl
section became white hot and smoke
rom the burning tlesh poured ont of
he mouth. The current was shut off! !
n five seconds, aud after waiting unfiI II
he wire cooled Il little, the wheel and I
atchet were worked and the loop was {
lrawh through the: baked flesh until
he patient Indicated pain by contract t
ng the forehead. The prscess OF heat
ne, cooling and tightening the loop l.
vas repeated and con tinued until finaI- /
y by paliing gently upon a pair of s.
brceps, which rs a pfecauti0n had h
een fastened TO the. tuln0r through /;
he mouth, to prevent it from falling a
lt0 the @indpipe. the neck of the tu- VI
ler was severed: close "a, Che point of b
nion: lie was pear-shaped, two inches s.
,ng and Que and n half inches in di- a
meter. Five minutes had elapsed b
ON ike time the electric current was lii
lrned OH to the end of the operation. a.
,ot a drop of blood escaped, -. I p