The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-02-02
A Notable Surgical Operation.

A Notable Surgical Operation.
We printed few days ago an ac-
count Of the wonderful operation per-
formed by Swiss surgeon in the re-
noyal of the entire stomach from the
body Of living human being and the
successful union of the adjacent parts
of the severed digestive track in a
manner to insure the continuance of
its functions. An equally successful
experiment in the surgical field, and
an even more important one, as it ap-
pears to US, because of its probable
large consequcncein the saving of life
| under conditions heretofore regarded
as almost necessarily fatal, and Of fire.
ouent occurrence, is reported in some
Of the New York papers as having
been made in the POSTGRADUATE Hos
pieal in that city about three weeks
ago, when the operation of trephinlng
| was performed on patient suffering
from apoplexy.
The patient, Frenchman: oo years
of age, it is stated, was we'll built
man and seemed to have been in good
general health at the time he was
stricken. He was I'm dying condl-
tion" when he was taken to the hos
pital and no doubt is entertained that
he would have died in few hours at
the farthcst but for the operation to
| which he was subjected. Thc details
Of the experiment are meagre, and
consist simply in the statement that
"the skull was trephincd and the clot
Of blood formed by the bursting OF
some of the arteries on the left side OF
| the head was allowed to escape, and
that relief from all the alarming symp-
tpms was afforded almost instantly.
''Thc pulse and respiration approach
ed the normal in less than thirty Sc
conds after the operation, the I'M
proyement continued steadily and the
patient is now on the high road to
recovery under the care of the nurses
at the hospital every little ether
was required it is noted incident.
ally, ''as the ctfuscd blood had spread
over the brain, paralyzing the nerve
centres.
The operation was performed in the
presence of Il number of physicians
and students at the hospital, by one
of the visiting staff OF surgeons, who
has made the following statement re-
| J;,.. - Gov mn 1icrtiOn
II have long been looking for a case
in which could localizc the brain
pressure. In this case the paralysis
of the left arm led me to locate the
clot of blood at the left side of the
brain. The skull was trcphined just
at the point where the brain pressure
was the greatest, and in this way the
clot of blood was easily allowed to
escape In ordinary trcatmcntof OF apo
plexy this clot is disposed Of in two
WAYS. 4 portion goes to create new
brain tissue. Even if any untoward
symptoms shoulddcvclop the operation
will still not have been in vain. We
have proved that it is possible to euro
apoplcxy by trcphining, as the patient
would have died in short time if the
stcp had not been taken. AS it is.
this matter will be drawn to the attcn-
ton Of surgical men all over the
world. 1t will be reported Undue time
to the Academy of Medicine, or some
other medical association. as steps arc
ALWAYS taken to allow the medical pro
fcssiou to ret the advantage Of pro
yress on the part Of amy OF Its mem
bcrs. As far rs | can find out, trcph-
ming for cases of ordinary apoplcNl
has heretofore been unknown. Onl,
when the skull has been injured ha:
the operation heretofore been perform
cd. as far as | can learn from all thu
medical literature on the subject Il
my command. There was large
number Of interesting points developed
in this operation, but they were mostl.
Of il technical nature and not of gen
cral interest.
The essential condition Of the per
formancc of such All operation, it ap
ncars. is the accurate determination
Of the spot in, or on, the brain whcr'
the clot has formed and is cxcriing / t.
fatal pressure. and it is for the ex
pcrts of the medical profession to sa,
in what proportion of eases OF app
plcxy such determination is NOW prac
ticabc, and what is the promise 10
the future regarding it. There na
been Il notable advance in this dlrcc
tion in late years. we belleNe. fo
the present it is enough to be ASSURED
on the authority We have quoted tina
it has been proved that 1T is possible
to cure apoplcxy in ordinary cases,
by the operation he performed. Tn
medical profession will not fail, o
course, to make the most of the dis
coycry, but we may be pardoncd per
haps for expressing some surprise tha
so obvious and direct means for re
licving condition that has been St
long and so well understood has no
been applied before, in desperate
cases, at lcast.-Ncms and Co"r'er.