Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-05-07
WONDERFUL SURGURY.
Oke of the M ost II Remarkable Operations o
Record.


An experiment was made recently IL,
Cincinnati of the most delicate and dam
gerOus character which was no less than
the attempt to enlarge the skull OF little
girl and thus save from a life of darkness
one whose head would not permit the
natural growth OF her brain and made her
an idiot.
The mother had two children, both girls,
one sixteen and the other four, The
older one had been an idiot from child
hood and the younger one gave evidence
of being slmilar unfortunate. never hav-
Ing spoken Il WorJ or played ABOUT as
other children. The mother begged the
help and interest OF the hospital authori-
ties. and the child was admitted. The
little girls features were regular, almost
pretty, and her little figure strong and
well formed. But the sad story of her life
was written in her face. No intelligence
was there; no light in the eyes, none of
the bright JOY of loving, learning child
hood. The little patient was taken to the
surgical ward, and for the next ten days
she was the subject Of the most careful
study by the resident and visiting physi-
clans. twas discovered that he cause of
her mental impairment was the premature
ossihcation Of the several homes of the
skull, thus conhning the brain IN too,
small space and preventing its develop
ment. Then the operation limited at
was determined upon, the purpose being
slmpI y to remove a bone from the skull,
thus allowing expansion, Just as one would
slit tight shoe with MS Knife to relieve
tender foot
When the time came for the operation
the child was laid on long, narrow table.
After the mother had given her parting
kiss, chlorofOrm was administered and it
was not long until ali consciousness of
pain had vanished Then the curious doc
tors gathered around to view the bold pro-
cedure. The scalp was carefully shaven
and thoroughly cleansed with alcohol and
bl-chloride of mercury solution. The new
ly sbarpened scaper was then applied,
and an lncision was made clear down to
tie bone, extending from near the root of
the nose directly backward over the top of
head for distance of five inches. The
edges of the wound were gently held back
by re.ractors so as to expose large area
of the skull. Now the trephine, an instru-
ment resembling a gimlet, was put to
work in one end of this incision and a
circular piece of bone, the size of a dime,
was removed, exposing the transparent
covering OF the pulsatlng brain. Now
pair of cutting pIyers were inserted in the
opening and the bone Clipped off piece by
piece until an area FIVE inches long and
half an inch wide had been removed.
This part Of the operation was done with
the utmost care, for the delicate and I'M
portant structures in so close proximity
might have been wounded by the slightest
slip of the instrument. After the wound
had been thoroughly bathed n a stream
of clear, warm water, the edges were
brought neatly together by fine silk
stitches and the whole we'll covered and
protected by cotton and bandage. The
child was then carried back to the ward,
and in the course of an hour rallied from
the effects of the chioroform and displayed
untoward symptoms. 1t will take some
ime to ascertain definitely whether the
operation was successful or not.
1t is sand by prominent surgeons that
the operation is one of the most remark
able In surgical science. This is probably
the first time it has ever been performed
IN this country, and only the sixth time
in the world