New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-25
ALIVE WITHOUT A STOMACH
REMARKABLE OPERATION ON A WOMAN
IN SWITZERLAND.
SOLID FOOD RETAINED AND DIGEsTED WITHOUT
DISCOMFORT

SOLID FOOD RETAINED AND DIGEsTED WITHOUT
DISCOMFORT
The Medical Record" will tomorrow publish
an account Of the first successful removal or
human stomach. The feat itself Is the most
brilliant and daring attempted in recent sur
gical history. but the attendant discovery
that the stomach Is not vital organ Is even
more important. Hitherto It has been consld-
cred utterly impossible for person to live with
out stomach. With the fall Of this long-recog-
nized axiom the old theories OF medicine and
surgery may be entirely changed, and the held
OF possibilities which the discovery opens up Is
practically limitless.
The operation which has startled the medi-
cal world was performed In Zurich. Switzerland
by Or. Carl Schlatter on September u last
The subject was Anna Lands. ffty-six years
old. silk weaver. This woman had complained
for years OF stomach trouble DR.. senator
diagnosed the case and found that she was suf-
fering from an exceptionally large oval tumor IN
her stomach. Laparotony was performed, and
Dr. Schatter found that the womans entire
stomach presented hard mass. And then this
daring operator. seeing that the organ was use
less. went to work and freed 1t from It's delicate
attachments. cutting. twisting and clampng
among the most vital organs with ccolness and
deliberation.
The technical details OF the operation can only
be appreciated by members OF the medical pro-
fesslon. When Or. Schlatter had excised the
entire stomach he firmly united small coll or
intestine to the psophaSus, thus making d.
rect connection between the alimentary canaI
end the bowels. The work Of joining the IN
testine and the nsophagus was most delicate
They were bound together with sutures Inc
organs were allowed to drop back into their
positions, the abdominal wound was se"ed up
and all there to show that Anna lahdis
had lost her stomach was a slight retractoh
toward the diaphragm The operation lasted
nearly two hours and half. The loss or oiood
slight.
The period following proved that the steriliza-
ton had been perfect and the operation wonder
fully performed The patient although old ana
feeble. exhibited but few Of the serious symptoms
that usually follow a vital operation. Minute
quantities OF liquid food were given 70 her AT
short Intervals With the exception OF occasional
Vomiting this food seemed to be assiniated,
despite the absence OF a food receptacle In the
second week after the operation solid food was
given her II was retained and digested without
discomfort And even Or. Schlatter himself
marvelled Mt the almost unexpected success Oh
his bold work He was handicapped In giving
the patient solid food because she had only one
tooth left.
On October II. a month and nve days after
N. stomach had been removed. Anna Lands
loft her bed By November % she was feeilng
perfectly well. and was walking about Her
weight Increased and apparently she was III
far bet,,r health than before the operation
DR. Edmund Charles Wendt. OF New-fork
city. the correspondent Of The Medicai Kec-
ord" who obtained Or. Schlatters personal
account Of the feat. says that on the oth Oh
this month ne saw Anna Lands ana that 10 ai'
intents and purposes she is a well woman one
ia stll under observation at the Aurich county
tJosn,,al but 4, able 10 do her full share OF Work
IN tho wards She has had many medical VISIT
ors from all quarters Of the globe
DR. Wendt concludes from the successtui re-
rnoval OF this stomach that the human stomach
9. 10, +, vital organ; that the digestive capacity
81 the stomach has been considerably oVerra'eu'
TIM, gain in weight may take place despite
the absence OF gastric activity; that Fofhi'ihs
NAV occur without a stomach. and that the
ohar,,coI functions OF the human stomach can
h. satisfactorily performed by the other a'Vis-
ions Of the amentary canal
commenting upon all these things The Medi-
cal Record" editorially VIII say:
Whatever we may venture pro or con on ,ne ques qh
49, a. issue tho fact appears 10 ne proved i tiat
st,h,ect live ana ne REASONABLY
nc nc ,nm,hs at A time without any stomach what,
,nd o,t ain all the necessary dlsestoh anu
ever d.u ,ar, from what remains OF the Intestinal
,ro", Is il possible that the after may a. hase ,ha
un @ ~ functions yet understood. or mas the
~" h,a,.o 80 ~ stomach digestion been msappre-
hended and ovcra,ed? In any event rSs %e are semon
hr'nyh, faca 10 face with very cur Iious u.'ir -
p..u.,iin whch destroys the validity or many pre-
Conceived opinions ard IN Sseat xpepmsns '-
M ,hn matter OF brilliant achievement me 3Pera
,,on ,akes Arst rank and the daring ana pr,innt
surgeon will receive the wel-deser'uu SVN Ie has
~ t -, Sic neers throughout the world he mas
cd the arst chapter in new history OF surslcai
trlumphs.