Wichita eagle., 1888-05-20
THE OPERATING ROOM
HOW SURGEONS DO THEIR WORK IN
A GREAT HOSPITAL
Eigsfts Which Unnerve the inexperienced.
A Weakness Which Is No Respecter of
Persons-EGects of an Ansesthetic.
Operating Surgeons Assistants.

No one who has sat upon one OF the benches
in the amp,ltheatre around the surgeons
table ever forgets his first visit there. 1t
will not be Whist he sees that indehbly i'm
presses his memory as much as the indeScrl5-
able emotions which perhaps overwhelm him
when the surgeon Is ready TO make the hrst
touch OF the knife Then it is that an IRE
sistible dizziness eeizes the new conner. The
ether burdeaed air seems sunOcat1ng. A
nausea like unto that of seasiokness grinds
his stomach He feels the blood leave his
face, and If he is able by a tremendous effort
of the VIII to crush down the weakness,
fairtness and blindness that are fast depriv-
ing him of his senses, be does well His eyes
are anywhere but on the operating table,
and his thoughts are wildly struggling with
the problem how to get out without fainting
on tie way. II he starts it is not unlikely he
wiH stagger few steps and then tumble in
a heap on the floor, whence he will be car
ried cut of doors, perhaps to be laughed at by
two or three students of more hardened sen
sibiiities Incidents Of this sort not in
frequent at the incoming of a new class IN
the fall 1t Is a. common sight at that season
for two or three students with woebegone
faces to manifest all the symptoms of sea-
sickness in tho yard outside the aInphitheatre
door that are TO be seen on the deck Of an ex-
cursion steamer off Sandy Hook when tine
Volunteer and Thistle are sailing in half
gale. This paralyzing weakness is no re-
specter OF persons Young men of strong,
robust temperament, who don't know what
physical fear is, and VINO are sure that the
sight of little blood would never make
them vince, are more frequently the victims
of this involuntary faintness than are their
weaker classmates.
TO many tho fumes of ether are nauseating,
and the effects OF their emotions are thus in
tenssded Your correspondent was careful
10 ascribe his squeamishuess on the occasion
Of his first visis to this cause Many encoun-
tiers with the ghsstly features of great rail
road accidents, autopsies, murders, and sim
liar horrors had, however, made him proof
against the more violent symptoms of the
alnphitheatre naiady. His own immunity
led him to make serious mistake few
weeks ago. he yielded to the solicitations of
a young man who was anxious to see the
mysteries CT the operating room, and he in
vited him 10 Isaake visit one operating day.
The young man hs.d helped caro- for one or
two victims Of accident and was quite sure
his nerve would not give way at sight of any
some misgivings, and hs insisted that the
young man should at first take back seat
whence he could make bis way out quietly in
case his feelings overcame him. The first
case brought il was an infant requiring o
slight operation upon the head The child
was too young TO be put under anesthetics.
The first touch of the knife brought a tiny
drop of blood The moment it appeared the
l..
his friend sat, long drawn "Ga-a-a," and
then thuInp The young man who thought
he would enjoy seeing a leg sawed OF had
keeied over at the sight Of single drop of
blood.
The prelinlinaries and accessories of an
operation at public hospital are worth de-
scri5ing. The only difference in the treat
menf of a free patient as compared with one
who pays regular fees is that the former
passes under the surgeons hands in the pres
ence Of a class of students Generally speak
ing. it is a wise course for any one requiring
surgical trestznent to enter hospital for the
purpose rathsr than submit TO an operation
Ut homa The reasons are almost obvious.
Within arms reach almost of the surgeon at
great hospital is every instrument and ap-
pliance known to science for dealing with
any emergency that can possibly arise, There
are always available convenient mechanical
arrangements that contribute to speed and
thoroughneSs in the work, which cannot pos
sibly be made use of in private dwelling.
1t frequently happens, therefore, that per-
sons of wealth, and with good homes, who
require the aid Of q surgeons Skill make a
visit to the hospital for the purpose.
As rule the patient never sees the operat-
ing room where be hiss been treated. He
goes in completely unconscious, and he is
Enugiy tucked up in bed before he realizes
that he has faced the ordeal which he has
been dreading. Even the free patients never
Know that they have passed under the eyes
of more than the doctors and the nurses. The
etherization of the patients is always done in
u small room outside the operating theatre
1t is a process which somo people dread more
than an operation itself Others enjoy il,
and even indulge occasionally in an either
drunk" SO pleasurable are the sensations il
brings them Patients attacked by nausea
and suffocating sensations sometimes have
hard time and so do the attendants who
have them 10 charge The antics Of a PATIENT
In eIhe sexcitelnent stage and before stupe-
faction begins are often amusing. Just as in
The case Of a man under the influence OF
liquor, only in a moro exaggerated degree, a
person partially under the effects of an
nnasstheitc sometimes develops qualities of
mind and disposition that are, to say the
least, unsupported and surprising Others,
on the contrary, yield calmly and without n
struggle to the soporifc influence of the
ether cone, and are soon deep in an inscn-
sbihsy that no surgeons scaipel can disturb.
There are two and sometimes three or four
assistants to the operating surgeon in any
case. The duty of one is to tend exclusively
TO the administration of ether Sometimes
TIE young man assigned to this duty has his
hands full The ether is administered either
by means Of . large, shell shaped spouce,
which covers TIE mouth and nose or with a
cone Of similar size, covered with q na,lkia ,
and partly flied with small Sponyes, which
hold Siss ether Every two or three minutes
n spoonful or two OF the annSthetic Is poured
insothe sponge or cone, and most OF the time,
unless the operation is upon the face. the
nose and mouth ere left covered II the IA
tient should be attacked with choking or
1ausaa, or If ste teeth become tightly set, as
frequently happens, the young nlen with the
ether conc must apply the proper remedy.
One dnficui1J TINT sometimes arises ls the
falling back Of the tongue into the rear CT
tho mouth, causing danger of suffoca1on,
and toavoid this the patients head Is always
kept turned TO one side. The duty ot tho
other assistants. who sre graduates of toe
nsdical school Getnng hospital practice be-
fore opening ofsces for themselves, IS 10 act
lively assist the surgeon in ali parts ~ the
peIufim They tie up or lgate the blood
vessels which may be cut, AID which the
SURGEON hes seized with the artery forcspS
q Eaen It Is necessary to use more than one
at . time an assistant lenGs his
mid One Of them stands by constantly with
a spongn, with which to follow the course of /
an instruments and to cleanse the wound N 1