The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-01-30
Extraordinary Achievement Of Modern
Surgery.


DR.. Bsnnett.and Mr.. Godlee published
an article which startled ?the surgical
world. DR.. Bennett had diagnosticated
not only the existence, but the exact
locality of tumor in the brain, of which
not the least visible evidence existed on
the exterior CT the skull, and asked Mr..
Godlee to attempt its removal. The head
was opened and the brain exposed. No
tumor was seen, but so certain were they
of the diagnosis that Mr.. Godlee boldly
cut open the healthy brair and discoY-
cred tumor the size of p walnut and
removed it. After doing veil for; three
weeks Inflammation get in, and the
patient died on the twenty-si1th day.
But, like the failure.o .of the first Atlantic
cable, it pointed the way to success, and
now there bave been twenty tumors
removed from the brain, of which seven.
teen have been removed from the eere.
brum with thirteen recoveries, and three
from the more dangerous region of the
cerebellum, all Of which proved fatal.
Until this recent innovation every case
of tumor of the brain was absolutely
hopeless. The size of the tumors sue.
cessfnlly removed has added to the
astonishment With which surgeons view
the fac! of their ability to remove them
at all. Tumoro measuring as much as
three and four iuchea in diane.
ter, and weighing from a quarter to over
third of p,und, have been removed,
and the patients have recovered.
Another disease formerly almost in
variably fatal is abscess of the brain. In
the majority Of cases this comes as a
result of long-standing disease of the
ear, which after awhile involves the
bone and finally the brain. So long
ago as 1879 Mr. Macewen, of Glasgow,
diagnosticated an abscess in the brain,
and wished to operate upon it. The
parents declined the operation, and the
patient died. After death Macewen
operated precisely as be Hould have done
during life, found the abacess, and evacu-
ated the pus, thus showing how he could
probably have saved the child's life.
Since then the cases treated in such
manner amount to scores, and more
than half of them have recovered with.
out bad symptom.
In injuries ofthe skull involving the
brain the larger arteries are sometimes
wounded, and the blood that is poured
out between the skull and the brain
produces such pressure as to be speedily
fatal. In some cases, even without any
wound, the large arteries are ruptured by
blow or fall, and similar result fol-
lows. Nowadays, in both Of these
injuries, any we'll instructed surgeon will
open the head, secure the bleeding vessel,
and turn out the clot, with good chance
of recovery in large number of cases.
Even gunshot wounds Of the brain are
no longer necessarily fatal. Among a
number of other successful cases one
has been recently reported in which the
ball went all the way from the forehead
to the back of the head, and after
striking the bone rebounded into the
brain. The back of the skull was open.
ed, tho ball removed, and rubber drain
age tube of the calibre ola lead pencil
passed in the track of the ball complete
ly through the head, and the patient
recovered: So little danger now attaches
to opening the skull, with antiseptic
precautions similar to those already
described, that the latest writer on
,rephiniDg (seydel) estimates that treph-
ining per Sc is fatal only in l.5 per cent.
of the cases. Mr.. Hcrsely has recently
published a most remarkable paper, in
Guiding ten operations on the brain, in
which, without anything on the exterior
to indicate its situation, the site Of the
disease vas correctly located in all, and
nine of them recovered after operation
Dr. W. w Reene. in Harper's Maqdzine