The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-12-25
DARING FEAT OF SURGERY.
A woMAy.s STOMACH ENTIRELY
REMOVED WITH THE KNIFE.
Yet the AGED Patient Recovers.
and DiEe~ts Solid Food Wifh""'
Dimeulty and Apparently DOCS
Well Hifhout TIL, Useful Organ.

NEW YORK. Dec. s4-The Medical Rsc-
ord Will tomorrow publish the iosie"ias
account Of the first success 81 the reinoSAi
Of human stcrnsch:
The feat itself ia the most brilliant ana
daring ever attempted in recent sarsseai
history but the attendant discovery thse
the stomach IS rot a vital organ - even
more important. Heretofore il has been
considered utterly impossible 70 1--we with
tut a stomach. With the fall CT this long
recognized axiom. the old theories or
medicine and surgery may be snt!re9y
crsngs1 and TIA field 81 possibilities wnscn
tie discovery OPENS UP IS practically limit
less
The Cperatton which has startled the
medical world as performed in Zurich.
Switzerland. BY DR.. Carl Schlatter, on
september last. The subject was Anna
lands, IS years of age and silk weaver.
This woman had complained for years cf
stomach trouble Or. Schlatter diagnosed
the case and founa that she was suffering
from an exceptionally large oval tuu1or in
her stomach. Lsaporotony was performed
and DR.. Schlatter found that the woman's
outer stomach presented q hard mass.
Then this daring operator. seeing that the
organ was useless. went 10 work and freed
~ from its delicate attachments. cutting.
twisting and clamping among the most
vital organs with the GOODNESS and DELHI
Grafton OF an expert dentIst drawing a
hard tooth. The technical details OF the
operation can only be appreciated by
members of the medical profession.
When Or. Schlatter had excised the
entired stomach. he firmly united a small
COZ. OF insestines TO the assophagus. thus
making a direct connection between the
anmentary canal and the bowels. The
work OF Joining the intestine and the acso-
pnagns was most delicate. They were
bound together with sutures. The organs
were allowed to drop back into their posi-
ions. the abdomenal wound was sewed I'D
aho all there was TO show that Anna Lam
ais mad lost her stomach was a slight re-
traction toward the Diaphragm The opsr-
aion lasted nearly two hours and a half
me loss OF blood was slight. The period
Following showed that the sterilization was
perfect and the operation wonderfully per-
formed. The patient, although old and
feeble exhibited but few of the serious
symptoms that usually follow a vital oper-
alton Minute quantities OF liquid food
were given her at short intervals With
me exception Of occasional vomiting, this
food seemed TO be sssimilated, despite the
absence OF food receptacle
me second week after the operation
she was given solid food. II was retained
ana digested without discomfort And
even Or. Sehlatter himself maryeled at
the almost Unexpected success of his bold
work He was handicapped In giving the
patient solid food because she only had one
tooth left in her head.
On October II, a month and five DAYS
AFTER the stomach had been removed, Anna
Lands left her bed. By November 1 she
was feeling perfectly well and was walk
ing about. Her weight increased, and APP
parently she was in far better health than
before the operation"
DIR. Edmund Charles Wendt, of New York
city, the correspondent OF the Medical
Record, who obtained DR.. Schlatter's per-
sonal account Of the feat, states that on
the eth of this month he saw Anna Lands.
and that TO all insents and purposes she il
a well woman.