The herald., 1893-11-07
VALUE OF ANTISEPSIS
now SURGERY HAS BEEN ADVANCED
BY THIS PRACTICE.

toCt- SeFo-o
of Sunstroke.
These last 20 years surgery has been
advancing at an almost vertiginous pace,
tnd its progress and improvement are
que to the universal practice of antisepsis
and to the adoption of proper dressings.
The most daring operations are now
crowned with success, and different Wis.,
Sera which had previously been carefully
avoided by surgeons are treated safely
and to the welfare of the patients. 1t is
an every day occurrence to see the alb
lominal cavity opened either to remove
! tumor or to make some operation on the
htestines. The brain is laid bare to free
t from some compression from which it
o suffering or to open an abscess and give
; free exit to the pus. Under all these
circumstances the surgeon intervenes
with perfect security when he has mi
kutely taken the necessary precautions
20 protect the wound he creates from in
lection by germs.
These dangerous germs are both with
h the patients and about them, and for
this reason it is absolutely indispensable
10 disinfect the spot that the operation
Is to affect and also everything connect
bd with the operator, his instruments or
assistants. AS for the germs floating in
bhe atmosphere, some surgeons endeavor
10 counteract their effect by spraying
tntiseptic liquids about the room during
the operation. The point to be guarded
against above all others is infection of
the seat of Intervention, and this can be
accomplished by destroying the germs
that may have already invaded it or by
closing up all access to it on the part of
those that may be about it. The former
tan be effected by the use of antisepsis
and the latter by asepsis.
Complications arising from firearm
wounds seem to result from the action
pf germs which are not carried by the
brojectiles, as might be supposed at first
thought, but by the patients clothing.
In one of the late meetings of the Societe
mperio- Royale des Medecins de Vienne,
M. Habart reported the experiments he
bad undertaken in this connection with
Al. Faulhaber concerning the infection
of 6rearm wounds. These two investi-
gators, using regulation rifles, fired at
boxes of gelatin, of which some were
sterilized or covered with sterilized blot
ting paper. others surrounded with pieces
of old uniforms and others with pieces
of uniforms dipped in pure cultures of
staphylococci. In the first case the
track of the bullet remained asceptic;
Ia tho second were found, in addition to
pieces of cloth, d variety of microbes,
while in the third the boxes contained
nothing but staphylococci.
In short, q bullet striking the body of
e soldier or piece of shell entering his
flesh stands every chance of creating
I'm infected wound. 1t is therefore i'm
perative to treat all wounds in wartime
and we owe great debt
to the different authorities who in time
of peace are preparing a sufficient stock
of packages of dressing to supply each
soldier or officer on the day war may
break out. This small package of dress
ing with which each soldier is to be fur
hished is to be placed, in the French
army, in pocket specially prepared for
it and is certain to render Sfsaat yerv-
Ices, whether used by the wounded man
himself or by the ambulance corps.
However temporary this remedy may be,
1t will still have the advantage of sup
plying the regimental surgeon with al
most enough dressings for the first de-
hands on the battlefields without his
having to make use of his stores, and it
will rapidly place the wounds out OF
Teach Of the danger Of infection arising
from contact with clothing, hands or
the ground.
A German army surgeon, NJ. Koerfer,
has been testing the value of inhalations
bf chloroform in the cerebro-spinal form
bf sunstroke, and in the case of two SOL
Tiers very seriously affected with uncon-
sciousness, convulsions, hyperasthesia
bf the skin, livid skin and weakened
pulse, the prolonged administration of
shloroform succeeded in putting an end
10 all the symptoms. The favorable
fffect of the chloroform showed itself
rs soon as its use was commenced by
marked improvement in the pulse, but
the convulsions did not cease altogether
hntil the narcosis had been kept up for
In hour and quarter in one case and
TOR quarter OF an hour in the other.
The use of cold water and hypodermic
injections of ether, to which recourse
was had in the first case, where the
symptoms were particularly serious and
before the chloroform was tried, were
found to be powerless and to have no
pther effect than to bring on or increase
the convulsive attacks each time they
we're tried. With this patient NJ Koer-
ler also made an injection of two cent?
grams of morphine toward the end of
he chloroform seance, and when the
nan began to come out from the effect
tf the chloroforn he fell asleep again
Under the influence of the morphine, and
IN awakening finally the convulsive at
acks had entirely disappeared.
Chloroform acts in these cases by stop
sing the convulsions which help to raise
he temperature Of the body by lessening
he production Of heat and also by facil-
tating the radiation Of the heat of the
cody Hypodermic injections of ether
ire given to prevent asphyxia, and caf-
hine administered in the same way has
I twofold purpose, to increase or re-es-
ablish the urinary secretion and to ton
fy the system in general. In the fu-
pre it will be well to bear in mind the
tsefulness Of chloroform in these yer;
evere cases of sunstroke.-Paris Herald.
A Long Felt Want