The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-07-09
New Cure for Appen-
dicitis Said to Be
Found.
TRICK DONE IN SHORT time.
Consists Merely in Giving
the Right Leg a Pecu-
liar Kind Of a Twist.

Man is heir to many ills and ail4
ments, but there are few of which he
fears more than the consequences at"
tending appendicitis. sf-5g. .:as1
Those who have not passed through
the terrible pain attendant to- this all"
ment have little idea. of the extent of
pain and suffering through which a
patient must pass through, while those
who have successfully passed an soper-
alton or who have recovered from
first attack, tremble when they ponder
on their sufferings, and the latter class
live in constant fear of a recurrence.
Appendicitis is the Inflammation Of
the vermiform appendix caused by the
clogging of the appendix by food par
ticles. The pain which sometimes is
agonizing, is due to the clogging Of the
veins so that when the blood contin-
ues to be forced into the appendix
through the arteries, it is prevented
from passing out again. Some eminent
students of anatomy have declared that
as far as they can learn, there is no
distinct function for the appendix, and
it is one of the unnecessary organs of
the body, and in view of the danger
ing and danger of life of the patient
some have advocated cutting out the
appendix in. children and thus lessen
danger for them in later life.
1t is only Of recent years that much
has been heard of appendicitis, and be-
fore it's discovery, it is claimed that
many men have died where the cause
| of death has been attributed to in
| Illumination of the bowels or rupture. In
ntf {e4 L.,
and of course treatment for inf1amma~
! ton of the bowels would do inflamma-
ton of the yermiform appendix little
good. AS far as observation goes, the
ailment Is no respecter of age, but
! strikes the youth and middle age alike,
In this city the preponderanee of cases
have occurred in young men between
the ages Of IS and 35, and many q
young man walks the streets of the city
who has felt the sharp edge of the sur
geon's knife.
Relief in appendicitis, in nearly all
cases, is found in an operation, but pa
tlent and surgeon alike are fearful of
the consequences of an operation, and
the cutting of the sufferer is put off
While there is any chance of a recovery.
| Generally an operation must be held,
and at such times the patient is cut
and the appendix cleared by artificial
means zf1 -ras
Recovery from the operation is, doubt
tul, The shock to the patient, who is
necessarily weak from suffering, and
the dangers of the surgeons knife, are
sufficient to cause death in. large per-
| centage of cases, and for these reasons
the operation is put off as long as pos
slple. The treatment of appendicitis
requires extended study on the part Of
| surgeons, and any who have mas
! tered the study are hailed as experts
and assured of good practice. Worces-
/ ter has. two appendicitis experts and
patients of the city are generally treat
ed by either. Both have had good re-
suits in their operations, and the per-
centage of deaths from appendicitis in
! worcester is not as-large as in other
| cities.
Very recently, however. it was
claimed that new cure for the disease
was discovered in New York. and an
operation along the new lines was met
with great success. The discoverer of
! the new opera ton, for which it Is;
| claimed that there is comparatively. lit
tie pain, absolutely no danger, and as
thorough in results as the cutting, is
Or. George ]. Helmer of Madison ave-
nue. and 3lst street, New York. It was
CLAIMED that DR.. Helmer has success
| tully treated a young woman who was
/
ms treatment, was along new lines.
| according to report the treatment
consisted simply of placing one hand on
| the outer surface of the abdomen be-
meath which the verlniform appendix
Is known to be, with the other he
grasped the right leg of the patient at
the knee To the leg, by quick move
| ment ne gave a slight twist, repeating
II several times. This is all there was
to the operation. The patient had pre-
Vlously been under the care of two
| physicians, one of whom said an ouera-
| tlon with the knife must be undergone
| 10 save life. / Dr. Helmer's operation
consumed eight minutes, and it was
| CANNED that the 20-year-old patient
! was as we'll as ever immediately after
| The method of treatment employed
| oy ". helmer is the forcing out Of the
! appendix of the elogging particles I'm
! mediately behind the appendix js tha
| largest muscle in the human BODY ths
| psoaS magnus. -r
| IL is attached to the femur or his
pone OF the leg, and is the muscle by
which one can revolve the lee, as on q
pivot at the heel. This muscle is made
70 40 the trick of emptying the ap-
Using the fingers of one hand to bold
the walls of the abdomen in nIace srS
to prevent rupture of the delicata IN
ternal structures, with the other.
spasmodlc contraction of the nsoas
magnus is brought about which snsos
II against the appendix and. for- ~, oi,t
or that organ whatever of foreign sube
stances 1T may contain g
inquiry among Worcester s,,,.goo,,.
regarding the new, discovery n nv
Helmer, fails to find them enfbrei.sti:
over the new operation, ana in faot
hnds them skeptical of its s,Iccass
None OF them heard of the rnethod 20
operating previous to its uss ~. r' ~
Helmer, and one authority said tbat
Or. Helmer must be man of I,,itaS
experience In the treatment. of arrardi-
cltlS II he believes the treat,rl.,t ~
ported to be used by him. viii. w.
elfectlVe. The description of the oners
tlon fails to tell whether the leg VIC.
twisted inward or outward. and fb,s is
an important matter, in the snrgeo,is
opinion. None of the surgeons airs Wiz
ing 10 follow DIR. Helmer's cad he
| neVing II impracticable. They genSraII,y
expect the medical Journals to take tbs
case up, and discuss it. Until II is e eo
amined and the complete work ms q,
| the physician described, the Worcester
physicians and surgeons will continns
to use the knife for the Keller ,rs ano
pendicitis patients. s ''p