Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1888-09-28
A New Aid to Surgery.


chased for the Department of Public
Safety an apparatus which, 1t is ex-
pected, will be of immense benefit in
certain cases Of shooting, stabbing, etc,
that are brought to the attention of the
police at the various police station
houses. Many of the wounds which are
received by people in fights are in the
abdomen, and this apparatus is for the
purposes of determining whether the in
testlnes are injured, a very important
point in the treatment of persons so
situated.
By an explanation afterward afforded
the use Of this apparatus will be a
means of saving many mans life.
The apparatus has lately been invented,
and Police Surgeon Oldshue and DR.. Pol
lock have been the first to test its virtues
here. It consists of rubber retort, to
which is attached a long rubber tube,
and is very simple as it appears laid out
man is brought to one of the station
houses, shot or stabbed in the abdomen,
it is difficult to tell whether any of the
intestines are punctured. The retort is
filled with hydrogen gas, which the sur
geon can easily prepare, and this gas is
injected into the vital parts with coz
siderable pressure. A tube is placed in
the wound, and if there is a wound in
the intestines the gas is bound to
come out by way of the wound and into
the tube.
By applying lighted match to the
end of the tube it can be seen whether
the gas is escaping; for, if the gas is
there it will ignite. On the other hand,
if there is no wound in the intestines the
gas will escape by way of the mouth,
and by means of proper instruments
there and the application of light, it
can be seen if the hydrogen gas is thus
escaping.
Surgeon Oldshue, last night, about the
new apparatus, inquired:
''But is not hydrogen gas highly ex-
plosive? and is it not unsafe to intro
duce it into the body in such form?"
DR.. Oldshue replied: "That is the
opinion; but DR.. Stlnes, the inventor of
the apparatus, has followed the plan
with great success, as has DR.. Mordecai
Price, of Philadelphia. They have
shown that this is not only innocuous,
but an absolute diagnosis of intestinal
wounds"
"Well, but of what benefit is such a
knowledge"
eff the intestine is wounded the opera
ton Of laparotomy can be performed by
the opening of the abdomen, and the
wound of the intestine taken up and the
catgut ligatures applied to bring the
edges together, and with general anti
septic treatment the patient has much
greater chance of recovery. 1t will afford
every opportunity to save the lives of
persons stabbed or shot, or otherwise
wounded in the abdomen"
DR.. Pollock asked that he be called
for the first case, where the doctor would
make the experiment. Not long ago a
Pole was shot in Soho, and Police Sur
geon Cldshue was called to attend him.
The wound was in the abdomen. Drs.
Oldshue and Pollock went to attend him,
and DR.. Oldshue decided to try the new
apparatus. By the action of the hydrogen
gas it was found that there was no abb
dominal wound. 1t was further decided
then that the patient be not operated on,
but kept quiet, though the bullet was in
his body. A few days sutficed for the re-
covery of the Pole showing that, for the
first case at least, the apparatus made
correct -Ptttsburg Dispatch