The Brunswick times. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 188?-1900, 1898-01-16
A SURGICAL FEAT.
REMARKABLE OPERATION PERFORM
ED ON J. HARDING or CINCINNATI.

His Chest Was Opened and His Lungs
We're Exposed-Bony Substance of Ribs
Removed Sac Covering the Lungs
Was Cleared of Pus- Patient still Lives
If decade ago the most eminent sur
geons should have been told that a
mans chest could be opened, the bony
substance of the ribs removed, an in
cision made into the pleura or sac COW
ering the lungs and these exposed to
view like the works Of watch, they
would have ridicued the statement as
too preposterous to be entertained for a
minute And yet this was successfully
accomplished at the City hospital in
Cincinnati recently The patient still
lives and bids fair to make splendid
recovery.
On Dec. 10 Joseph +. Harding, pa
per carrier, whose home is at the south
east corner of Baymiller and Everett
streets, i'll Cincinnati, was admitted to
the institution suffering from acute
pleurisy After several days in the ward
the conclusion was reached by the at
tending physician that the fluid in the
sac had turned to pus, distending the
sac until the prostinum was being forced
against the ribs. To save the mans life
and check the inroads of supervening
empyema--a termination of pleuritis
generally fatal-only one remedy re-
manned, the knife.
Cognizant of this ultimatum, Harding
consented to the ordeal, and few after
moons ago he was placed Oh the operat-
ing table, and, after being properly an
asthetized, an incision was made on
the right side of the chest in the region
covering the sixth and seventh ribs
The knife piled downward course of
four inches and then across to the same
extent at the beginning and end Of the
vertical cut, displacing an area Of 10
inches. When this space was laid open,
the knife dug deeper until tho ribs were
reached, and these were then treated to
II process which denuded them of their
bony substance and deprived them Of
the power of resistance
With great caution the sac, filled
with an accumulation of pus, was then
entered and drained When this was
accomplished, the right lung was found
lying to one side of the sac, while the
pleura, cleared of its pus, was like IA
collapsed balloon, 1t was during this
part Of the operation that the lungs
could be plainly seen rising and CON
tracing i'll the living subject. But little
time was allowed for the observance of
this rare sight, and the operation pro
crossed. Drainage and irrigation were
continued, and when the physicians
were satisfied that every particle of pus
was removed tho wound was stitched
up, and then the chest wall began to
sink, that effect being anticipated aud
in fact necessary to the results looked
for. The resistance of the ribs being
gone, the wall falls into and covers the
cavity created by the distended pleura
In this way new hone is found in the
ribs, and, healthy conditions having re-
turned, nature does the rest. A drainage
tube inserted in small opening left in
the wound concluded the final step in
tine operation, and being restored to
consciousness, Harding showed no signs
of suffering from shock. The result of
the operation will be watched with
great interest by tho medical profession
-CinCinnati Euuuirer