The morning call., 1890-09-01
WONDERFUL SURGERY.
A Victim of the Maffias Saved
From Almost Certain Death.

There is case now at the Bellevue Hos
pital which is similar in many respects to
that of President Garfield, with the differ
enee that the patient will leave the hospital
a well man comparatively instead Of going
out in coffin The patient is Dominica
Ferrazzo, an Italian, who is 40 years old and
has been in this country fifteen years. He
was an assistant superintendent ON the new
aqueduct and had charge of a gang of Italian
laborers, among whom were lot of Sicilians
who were members of the murderous So
ciety known as the Maffia. FerraZZo dis
charged several of the Maffias, and they
held q meeting and determined to kill him.
They caught him as he was returning
home on the midnight shift, and went
to work on his body with stilettos and
pistols. They left him Tor dead, with his
body full of holes. He would have quickly
bled to death had he not been discovered and
given medical treatment by the surgeon at
tached to the aqueduct. He had sixteen stab
wounds, most of which were superficial, only
two penetrating the chest. The most danger
GUS wound had been made by bullet, which
entered the right side while Ferrazzo was
lying on the ground. The course of the ball
was downward and inward, and the paralysis
of the legs indicated that the spine had been
injured. FerraZzo was removed at once to the
hospital. The patient was in a state of col
lapse from shock, and this was first at
btuucu ~. Lie VI tllc NtuDuS Hiduc
the case hopeless as far as human judgment
could determine, and all that was in his favor
was strong constitution The patient rallied
from the shock, and began
BATTLE FOR LIFE,
With the odds all against him. The stab
wounds in the chest were serious, but not
necessarily fatal, and the surgeons directed
their efforts to the wound in the side.
The course and location Of the bullet were
unknown, and DR.. Lyman did not even
have the advantage of the knowledge of the
relative positions of the two men when the
shot was fired. A TELEPHONE probe was
used to locate the ball. This is simply an
elastic probe attached to an ordinary tele-
phone, so that any metallic sound can be
heard through the receiver The probe was
put into the wound and slowly forced
downward 1t came in contact with the
made to pass through 1t. showing that the
ball had passed through vertebra. A few
inches from the spine, on the left side. the
end of the probe struck the ball, and there
was sharp click ,t5 OF the telephone
was made in the left side and the
ball was found imbedded in the
psoas magnuS muscle and removed. The
medical records show that gunshOt wounds,
with fracture of vertebre, are fatal. This
simply means that patients wounded in this
way have died because surgery could not do
anything for them, and is an exhibition of
what ignorance can do. The patient was
strong and vigorous. and DR.. Lyman deter
mined TO operate and discover. if possible,
The eXten. of the internal injury and give
relief where indicated. The patients side
wa1 laid omen with scalpel, and the course
Of the bullet was traced. The ball fractured
the eleventh and twelfth ribs, grazed the
splenic artery, going still in downward
direction, was detected by the spleen and
passed through the vertebre Within a hairs
breadth of the abdominal aorto, vena cava
and thoracic duct. The spinal cord had not
been touched, but had acted through SYM
pathy IN
CAUSING THE PARALYSIS.
The injury was even more extensive than
in President Garfield's case.
The surgeon picked out the splintered
bones from the ribs, some of which had
punctured the spleen and liver, and as
matter of precautiOn tied the splenic artery.
1t was the rupture of this artery that killed
the President. The hole in the yertebra
was smaller than the bullet and the edge
where the bail made its exit was ragged.
The rough places were made smooth and
then the hole was filled with powdered
bone dust. chemically mixed with several
substances, which caused 1t to sOldlfy
when moistened and slightly warmed. The
fluids in the body and heat DID the work,
and IN short time the vertebra was
solid There was nothing else found to
open and the wound was washed with an
antiseptc and closed with sutures. The
outcome was awaited with breathess anx-
iety by the surgeon, but there was nothing
in the subsequent symptoms to occasion
alarm. The wound healed quickly and the
spine gave no trouble. The paralysis has
not yet passed away, but it is believed that
it will when the patients health and
strength are restored. Ii this operation
had been performed upon President Gar
field what would have been the result?
With his great vitality he would have prob
ably recovered and would have been alive
AupuSt oath