New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-01-02
SURGERY OF THE STOMACH.
HOW NETWORK SURGEONS REGARD
sCHLATTER'S OPERATION.
TT IS THE CLIMAX OF LONG SERIES OF En-
PERIMENTs ON EXCISING PORTIONS
OF TILE STOMACH.

aroused Of late by the report OF Dr. carl Schidt-
ter of the University OF Zurich describing III
detail how, three months ago, ne perior"eu
the unprecedented operation of taking out the
stomach OF Swiss peasant woman, how ne
ioined the end of the rsophagus with the be-
ginning Of the intestine, and how this woinah'
the first In history to live without stomach
is not only in fairly good health to-day, Out
can actually work about the hospital wards
and suffers little il any inconvenience On
some hands this operation is regarded as the
beginning of a era in surgery. and 1t IS
said that the medical theories Of the past and
present regarding the necessity of the stomach
as part Of the digestive system will have to be
revised Even those who do not admit this'
and prefer to wait for the light Of further ex-
periments cali II one of the most brilliant
pieces of surgery that this end of the century
has brought forth. and have nothing but praise
for the rare technical skill and daring OF the
young German surgeon.
Only the bare facts have been told, however,
outside Of the medical papers. THE Medical
Record" OF this city, whose Zurich correspond
ent Dr. f.. c. Wendt Of NewYork sent on all
the details and 1.-THE London Lancet" Even
these do not give all the information of in
terest that this remarkable operation brings
TO the fore. DR.. Schlatters work Is one more
link in the science OF stomach surgery. which
In the last twenty years has developed greatly
DR.. Schlatter, ii is true has gone much furthei
than any one else has dared, and he has proved
this strange thing that the stomach is much
overrated organ Of the body; that 1t Is not
absolutely essential to the process OF digestion
and that a human being can live without It,
Yet this operation, though the greatest ever
known in stomach surgery Is but one of
chain Of operations. and Is not modern miracle
Of science
In medical archives there are many data con-
corning this branch OF surgery. Large portions
OF the stomach have often been removed. On
occasions as much as scven-eighths Of a stom-
ach has been cut away by surgeons knife,
and the patient has survived the operation. only
to die In a few weeks or months. however In
nearly every case, the records show. Surgi-
cal work has gone even further than this.
though As long ago as 1875 Czerny, the Aus
trian and his pupils, Serbia and Kaiser, be-
gan experimenting with dogs to this end, and
they and the European scientists, Pachon, Car
vallo MOnasi and Filipp took out in many
instances the stomachs Of these animals, PROV
Ing that the operation was a possible one.
dog of Czerny, in fact, lived five years after
his stomach had been removed, and finally,
while in good health, was destroyed for ana
tomical purposes. In this case 1t found,
after the dogs death, that not quite all Of the
stomach had been excised. a portion OF the
cardiac, or psophagal, end remaining. and that
this had distended and exercised gastric func-
tions small scale
The other dogs spoken Of, however, were all
left completely without stomachs, and though
losing weight steadily In some cases. continued
to exist with comfort. The German surgeon,
subject year ago. in which he showed that ami
mails could live stomachess and as dogs and
human beings have much the same internal
structure ii seemed as II the same would be
possible in the case of man or a woman.
Broth, the Austrian. started the work with
reference to human beings in 1881 and his
operations quickly became wOrld-famed. The !
schools Of German and Austrian surgical sci !
ence speedily followed In his wake, Czerny. |
Woener. Loretta Mikulicz and Esmarch bling the
men that accomplished and dared the most. 1t
was found possible to remove more and more Of
the stomach without destroying its gastric func-
tons and In several instances so little of the |
organ left that II could have been OF little |
practical in digestion Nevertheless, the pa
TENTS lived. and the diseases for which they |
were treated-cancer and malignant tumors-
seemed to be arrested in their development.
In America, and more particularly in New
York, abdominal surgery has advanced no less |
than 1t has the Continent. though, with far
fewer hospitals under governmental manage |
ment the opportunities for surgeons TO do orig |
hal experimenting are not numerous Yet |
American surgeons no less skilfu with their |
Instruments, and just as remarkable operations |
are continually performed here abroad !
The men OF NeW-York who are world-famed for |
this sort of work DR. Robert +. Weir Dr. /
" lillian r. Bull. DR.. Robert Able. DR.. Ccrster