Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-11-08
THE SURGEONS KNIFE.
Marvellous Advances That Have
Been Made In Surgery.

| human boey and yet leaving the patient
still alive and better OH for the opera
ton, which would have been considered
incredible ten or fifteen years ago. DR..
w w. Keen, "A prominent surgeon Of
Philadelphia, tells in Harper's Monthly
some of these astonishing new things
in surgery.
Most marvellous advances have been
made in the treatment OF Diseases OF
the head and the abdomen. Twenty
five years ago to open the cavity Of the
abdomen and explore the peritoleum
was step from which every prudent
surgeon shrank. II IL were opened by
nc .ideat there was nothing To do but
look on and wait for the patient 10 die
During the rebellion in every sixty
four cases OF wounds Of the stom ch
only one patient recovered. AgGnshot
wound in the abdomen was looked upon
as almost necessarily fatal. Surgeons
dared not open this organ, either To
search for the ball, to close a fatal per-
for ton OF the bowls, or to check hem
orrhage. Nowadays all is changed.
Owing TO the discoveries there is
scarcely man abreast with modern
ideas who would hesitate to open the
abdomen, tie bleeding vessels, sew up
n rupture of the bowels, remove lace
rated kidney, or repair whatever other
damage may have been done.
But more than this. Not only is il
allowable TO penetrate the intestines
to heal a wound or remove tumor
but it is often the surgeons actual
duty to open the abdomen for the pur-
pose OF MAXI ng n diagnosis. SO slight
is the danger from these exploratory
operations that it is not TO be weighed
for moment against the advantages
derived from positive knowledge.
Il have heard" writes DR.. Keen. as
he compares old things with new,
1.-The first obstetrician Of his day. when
| was n student say that any man who
dared TO open the abdomen to remove
an ovarian tumor should be indicted
for murder. Sir Spencer Wells, even
with the far larger mortality of his
earlier days, added 10000 years to
human life as the net result Of 1000
ovariotomies. He has lived 10 see
even his great success far surpassed
by the best surgeons. and all over the
civilized world even the average sur
eeon is followed by benedictions for re-
y
such operations.
Surgeons have even successfully re-
moved tumors that weighed more than
all the rest of the patients body. In
many cases of cancer of the stomach
the diseased part of the stomach itself
has been removed and the edges sewed
together. Sometimes even three or
four feet Of the bowels have been cut
out the edges sewed up, and the
patient fully recovered. Diseased
kidneys are frequently removed by
cutting open the loin or abdomen, and,
in cases where stray kidney was
found floating round loose, il has been
cut down upon and scwed fast in its
place
The results of brain surgery IN
certain cases Of epilepsy are almost
equally astonishing. The case is cited
OF one patient who had 2.S70 epileptic
commissions in thirteen days, yet COM
| pletely recovered from his terrible
malady after the removal OF "a diseased
| portion OF the brain. Cases of head
ache so invetertte as TO make ord mary
| occupations impossible have been
cured by trephining the skull and even
| insanity Itself has been driven off by
such an operation in cases in which il
has resulted from injuries to the head.
The spine, too, has in late years been
| the field OF some remarkable work
About year ago IL case was reported
in which by pressing on the spinal cord
a tumor had for long time been the
cause of frightful pain and of paralysis
to the lower half of the body Surgeon
Horsley made an incision in the back,
exposed the backbone, and. cutting il
away down TO the membrane and even
to the spinal marrow itself removed
the tumor. The patient is now able to
walk three miles on a stretch, and even
! to dance.
Assesses in the lungs have also been
removed. and in cases OF deformed
chests and chronic pleursy several
ribs have been taken out without injury.
I'VE have learned too" says the
writer, at the close of this remarkable
review of surgery's achievements,
THAT portions of the body can be en-
tirely severed. and il suitably pre-
served. can be replaced and they will
adhere and grow as II nothing had
happened. When wound is slow in
healing we now take bits of skin eth
err from the patients own body or pro.
vided by generous friends or even
from frogs, and .gla { them on the
surface of the wound. They usually
adhere, and as they enlarge at their
margins they abridge by one-half the
time required for healing Even "a
large disk OF bone, one or two inches
in diameter, when removed from the
skull can be so treated. The bone
may be separated from the skull SO
long as one or two hours, but if prop
erly cared for can be replaced, and
will grow fast and fulfill It's accus-
toned but interrupted duty of protect
ing the brain"