The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1895-07-13
IA ARFEL0 0tJS SURHERY.


! Astonlshine Feate Now Hsins
Performed With the Knite.
Psssess sAvane Nns Havs Desn DspeiysA
4 - 1Aeh VlnAalpss 80 Llves sAved
| - some Wondsrfnl 0psr-
Provided that yon can employ skill
ful surgeon, yon may have six inches Of
| your juRdlaf vein removed and live for
years afterward without feeling the
| loss 1T all, saYs the New York World.
| A few pe1n0ns have been thus distin-
| gnished and their lives have been saved
- consequence. The operation Is
exceedingly difficult and delicate. To
the lay mind it seems impossible, but
! we are fast learning that the modern
great surgeon does not include this
word in his vocabulary.
| The jugular vein has had more glory
than any other blood vessel The most
ignorant person knows it's location and
that to cut it means certain death.
s.rll hit him on the jugular," is com
mon expression among prize-fghters
and toughs When man gets hit on q
jugular he usually goes down and be-
comes speechless for minute or two,
but the jugular is no more responsible
for that than the big toe. There is q
little shining cord-a nerve-just back
Of the jugular which controls speech
and respiration. When forceful blow
is struck in the region of the jugular
this nerve is paralyzed and what is
Suits
The jugular is nearly an inch in diam
eter, and it will be readily understood
how easily one can bleed to death if it
is suddenly opened 1t lies directly un-
derneath the great muscle on the side
of the neck which shows up so promi-
nently in an athlete when he turns his
head. Except in very feshy person,
cut of half an inch in depth win
readily reach it.
The removal Of piece of the jugular
is justifiable in case Of large abscess,
tumor, or growth of any kind ON the
neck or of Inflammation OF the walls of
the vein and the tissue about it. The
latter is very rare. Unlike the removal
of the vermiform appendix, the removal
OF the jugular will never become q
"fad." Seldom, indeed, is there any
need of it.
There are great number of nerves
in the region OF the jugular. To cut
one of them is serious. For instance,
the nerve already mentioned, which
lies next to the vein, controls the func-
tions of speech ard respiration. These
nerves intersect each other like rivers,
highways and railroads on a very small
map. TO cut out piece Of the jugular
is somewhat like putting your pencil
down on this map when you are blind
folded without touching river, high
way, or q railroad. But the surgeon
knows the exact location Of each little
shining nerve, each little vein, from
long study, and his scalpel is sharp and
his touch is sure.
The flesh and tissue are cut away and
the vein is lifted up clear of both. look
ing like full hose when the water is
turned on, while all the time the great
muscle is held apart by forked steel
hooks something like sugar tongs. A
pair of clamps, shaped like blunt
scissors, with rough surfaces, is fast
ened just above the point where the
upper cut is to be made. Suddenly the
tube collapses, just as the hose does
when the water is turned off, for the
output of blood from the brain has
been shut off. A second pair Of clamps
Is fastened just below where the cut Is
to be made. Next two strips of catgut
or of fine silk are tied tightly around
just above the upper pair OF clamps and
just below the lower pair, and all that.
Is left to do is to cut out the interven-
ing piece. The whole operation is per-
formed by the skillful hands Of two or
three surgeons more quickly than it Is
told.
In three months time, the catgut or
the silk will have been assimilated into
the system, blood clot will have
formed at the inlet of the vein at the
base of the head, and what was once
the walls OF the vein will have become
q useless tube, which will also be
gradually assimilated. while tissue win
form in its place.
Bnt how does the impure blood from
the brain now find its way back to be
purified? il the question that is natural-
" asked. Just here is where nature
asserts her versatility, sdaptability
and Responsibilities. She makes the
jugular on the other side OF the neck
and the numerous email veins do the
work. and they do It 80 astisfactorily