The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1896-12-26
SKIN GRATING EXTRAORDINARY
A Coat Button Proves an Emcient Aid In
Modern Surgery.

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Coat Button Proves an Emcient Aid In
Modern Surgery.
The unusual manner in which piece
of skin was cut from boys thigh and
grated in his eye to enable him to wear
an artificial eye to replace one de-
stroyed by accident has been brought
to the attention of the physicians of the
New York Academy of Medicine. The
patient is Richard Won Romer, of Jer.
sey City, foundry hand and a very
healthy specimen of boyhood. Some
weeks ago while he was pouring some
molten metal in mold it splashed and
drop of it struck the boyin the right
eye. 1t burned away part of the upper
lid almost instantly and sank into the
pupil, destroying the sight. DR.. r. L.
Chambers, of Jersey City, was called,
and, applying cocaine to reduce the
pain, he examined the eye. He found u
tiny speck of the hardened metal in the
ball of the eye, and decided that the en-
tire organ would have To be removed.
When this was done and the injured
surrounding tissue was cut away the
surgeon discovered that there wasn't
enough of the eye socket left to hold in
place even the smallest sized artificial
eye.
DR.. Chambers resolved to try deli
cate feat of Thiersch grating to rem
edy the defect. Previous successful
experiments at skin grating had been
made when the skin was grated on a
fiat surface. The difficulty in this case
lay in making the flesh grow into "A
cavity like the eye socket, and as too
much pressure destroys all chance OF
the grated flesh growing upon the sur
face to which it is applied, the under
taking was particularly hazardous.
Three weeks ago the surgeon went
about his task after an unusual meth
cd. The injured eye socket was en-
tirely healed by this time. The night
before the operation he prepared q
section. measuring two by four inches.
of the flesh of the thigh and swathed
il in antiseptic bandages over night.
The next day he put the lad under the
influence of ether. The eye socket was
sprayed with cocaine, an incision was
made in the tissue, the section of flesh
was cut away from the thigh and
transplanted to the upper part of the
eye socket and fitted in the fresh in
cision.
Before this was done, however, the
surgeon had to devise means of hold
ing the graft In place without too great
pressure. He hit upon the eXpedent of
using an ordinary flat-surfaced over
coat button about an inch in diameter.
This was covered with antiseptic
gauze and fitted in the cavity. The
graft of skin was stretched over it, and
the button and the skin graft were
bound firmly in the eye socket and al
lowed to remain n week undisturbed.
The button had four holes in it, which
permitted the free circulation OF the
fluids of the eye while the grating
process was in progress. At the end of
the week the bandage was removed,
and it was discovered that the trans
planted flesh had grown upon the eye,
making n new and healthy upper lid
that would hold an artificial eye in
place.
The secret of the success Of the oper-
etiOn, Dr SniIHDfrS Salu, WIS tne Preh-
ence Of the holes in the button.
The boy was at a recent meeting Of
the Academy Of Medicine, and showed
the assembled physicians that the eye
could be removed and replaced with
ease. He had practically new eye
socket. All pain had disappeared, and
ali danger of the sound eye being af-
fected through sympathy. Two ply
sicians reported that they had tried
skin grating for somewhat similar
injuries. but had failed because they
had not used the button, or n similar
device. They declared they would try
the experiment over again with the
button, and report the result to the
academy.-N. Y. Sun.