Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-25
ALIVE WITHOUT A STOMACH
Remarkable Operation on a Woman in
Switzerland.
Patient Receives and Digests Food
and Apparently Suffers No
Inconvenience From Loss.

From the New York Tribune of This Morning
The Medical Record will tomorrow pub
Hsh an account of the first successful re-
moval of a human stomach. The feat itself
Is the most brilliant and daring attempted
in recent surgical history, but the attend
ant discovery that the stomach is not a
vital organ is even more important. Hith-
erto it has been considered utterly impos-
sible for a person to live without a stom-
ach. With the fall of this long-recognized
axiom the old theories of medicine and sur
gerry may be entirely changed, and the field
of possibilities which the discovery opens
up is practically iimiilcss.
The operation which has SO startled the
medical world was performed in Zurich,
Switzerland. by DR.. Carl Schlatter on Sep
temher q last. Tnc subject was Anna
Lands. fftysiX years old. silk weaver.
This woman mad co:hI,iatEed for years of
stomach trouble. DR.. Scatter diagnosed
the case and found thit she was suffering
from an exceptionally large oval tumor in
her stomach Lapsro;nmy was performed,
and DR.. Schlatter found that the woman's
entire stomach presented Il hard mass. And
then this daring operator, seeing that the
organ was useless went 10 work and freed
it from its delicate attachments. cutting,
twisting and clamping among the most
vital organs with GOODNESS and deliberation.
The technical details of the operation can
only be appreciated by members Oh Tue
N edical profession. When Dr. Scnlatter
had excised the entire stomach he firmly
united a small coil OF intestine to the
oeSophagus. thus making a direct connec-
ton between the alimentary canal and the
bowels. The work of joining the intestine
al the oesophagus was most delicate.
They were bound together with sutures.
The organs were allowed to drop back into
their positions, the abdominal wound was
seWed up, and all there to show that
Anna Lands had lost her stomach was n
slight retraction toward the diaphragm.
The operation lasted nearly two hours and
a half. The loss of blood was slight.
The period following proved that the
sterilization had been perfect and the opera
ton wonderfully performed. The patient,
although old and feeble, exhibited but few
of the serious symptoms that usually fol-
low vital operation. Minute quantities of
liquid food were given to her at short in
teryals. With the exception of occasional
vomiting. this food seemed to be assimi
lated, despite the absence of a food re-
ceptacle. In the second week after the
operation solid food was given her. 1t was
retained and digested without discomfort.
And even DIR. Schlatter himself marveled
at the almost unexpected success Of his
bold work He was handicapped in giving
the patient solid food because she had only
one tooth left.
On October II. month and five days
after the stomach had been removed, Anna
Landis left her bed. BY November % she
was feeling perfectly well and was walk
ing about. Her weight increased, and ap-
paTenty she was in far better health than
before the operation.
DR.. Edmund Charles Wendt of New York
city. the correspondent of the Medical
Record. who obtained DR.. Schlatter's per-
sonal account of the feat, says that on the
9th of this month he saw Anna Lands,
and that to all intents and purposes she is
a well woman. She is still under observa
ton at the Zurich County Hospital but
is able to do her full share of work in the
arIs Sha has ha1 al icif
from all quarters of the globe.
DR.. Wendt concludes from the successful
removal of this stomach that the human
stomach is not a vital organ: that the di-
gestive capacity of the stomach has been
considerably overrated; that a gain in
weight may take place despite the absence
of gastric activity: that vomiting may oc-
cur without stomach, and that the chemi-
cal functions of the human stomach can
be satisfactorily performed by the other
divisions of the alimentary canal.
Commenting upon all these things the
Medical Record editorially Will say:
Whatever we may venture pro or con on
the question at issue, the fact appears to
be proved that the human subject can
live and be reasonably active for months
at a time without any stomach whatever.
and obtain all the necessary digestion and
nourishment from what remains of the in
testinal tract. Is ii possible that the latter
may have a new set of functions not yet
understood, or has the Importance of stom-
am uiStSloI pSeii iHSappi ehehucu anu
overrated? In any event we are now
brought face to face with a very curious
demonstration, which destroys the validity
OF many preconceived opinions. and in
great measure nullifies the results of many
previous experiments
In the matter of brilliant achievement
the operation takes a first rank, and the
daring and brilliant surgeon will receive
the Well-deserved congratulations Of his
peers throughout the world. He has OPEN
ed the first chapter in new history OF
surgical triumphs.