The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-09-20

There was little bleeding. and the easiest
part Of the operation was over ANY car
penter can cut until he gets to the peri
toneum, SAID one of this Juniors under his
breath The peritoneum is the thin mem
brane which envelops the intestines. and Is
very susceptible TO Inflammation. The sur
geon Strengthened himself up a moment
and shl1ted his fatiguing position.
Then his knife passed along the peri
whole hand ana wrist through the incision
ana raised a mass of the fntesunes
through the opening, where it lay exposed.
An assistant sprayed warm water upon the
living mechanism so rudely removed from
It's tsp PLACE zee and held it pushed to one side
about the interior of the patient It was a
startling and uncanny sight.
nave It. the surgeon said, and he
slowly lltted to the surface of the opening
slender crimson object, which looked
something like four inches of a red lead
pencil. 1t was attached to the outer wall
OF the larger Intestine.
THE APPENDIX NON EST.
"Ligature," snapped the surgeon. The
handles of the artery clips were pointing
IN every direction from the incesion and
the operators Were working in the midst
of forest of steel instruments. The piece
of catgut handed him he wrapped tightly
around the appendix at its base and tied
1t. Then the knife slowly passed though
the long sac and the doctor held up the
slender tube. The unconscious patient
oliiCu ulSdSlly. HefnapS MS SuD-cOn-
seriousness realized that he would never be
a complete man again. Part of his anatomy
was gone beyond recall. After the root of
the appendix had been cared for the sur
geon stuffed the intestines back in place
with the air of man packing an overfuII
vallse. He simply pushed them in the
BODY and left the coils to shift for them
The rest of the operation was much like
shingles
has torn hole in the roof. The first step
was to turn the. stump of the appendix
1t fast thereto. The needle was short and
curved almost like fish-hook and the sur
geon pied it with the ease of a cross
legged tailor sewing on buttons. He was
not doing fancy work. 1t was plain over
hand stitching. The slit in the pertoneum
next demanded sutures, and the edges of
the rent were neatly sewed together. The
blood vessels that needed attention were
bound with ligatures and step by step the
muscles We're stitched by the surgeon
housewife with the incarnadined hands
OF these muscle layers is cut in the drec-
ton of the fibers. This makes what is
cles reunite more Satisfactorily than With
the Straight transverse cut.
While this sewing bee was in progress
stream of bichlorde of mercury solution
was flowing into the wound. and an assist
ant was constantly swabbing it out with
steriized gauze. 'Irrigating'' they called
this aseptic process. The six-inch slit in the
flesh was.stitched neatly with many stitch
es, and the only trace of this marvellous
operation was the red line along the right
side with the row of even stitches in it,
The patient was bandaged and circum-
scribed with many wrappings of cloth The
surgeon looked at the still white face and
said:
Hes in very good condition. Take him
back to his ROOM.
The strange vehicle rumbled away down
the hall. and the nurses began to boil and
wash and scrub everything in sight for the
next operation. The surgeon examined the
little red appendix and delivered an i'm
promptu two-minute lecture upon the pc
culiar features of the infiamma ton There
was no perforation and gangrene had not
set in, so this was not very striking case.
The appendix had been removed between
attacks. An hour later the patient awoke
to vague consciousness. and felt sick with
the taste of ether rank in his mouth. There
was a Smarting sensation on his right side
and he felt very weak. But he remembered
nothing since that ether inhaler had been
placed over his face in this same bed an
hour and a half before. He would have
been greatly surprised could he have seen
the disarrangement of his interior work
ingS
Within two weeks from the time of the
operation he will be able to leave the hos
pital, and he may take his appendix home
with him in a glass bottle If he wishes and
keep it on the mantel.