Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1899-06-29
LIVED WITHOUT A STOMACH.
A Scientific Estimate of n Wonderrr,
Surgical Operation.

Surgical Operation.
That the stomach is not an organ q,
sential to life in the human species !,
substantiated by the final report in
the case of removal of the stomach
performed on an elderly woman bv
Carl Schlatter, Privatdocent of thu
University of Zurich. Though the
woman is now dead, none the less tia
operation was successful, since she
died, not of the effects of the operation
nor of the loss of the stomach, but Of
the spread of the cancerous growth
which made the original operation
necessary; and the patient lived for
year, digesting food with other por.
tions of the digestive apparatus.
DR.. Schlatter's report on the case
printed in the Medical Record, states
that the patient was woman ffty-six
years old, suffering from diffuse car.
cinoma of the entire stomach. The
operation was performed on September
6, 1897, total extirpation of the stom-
ach being found necessary. About the
1st of June the following year the
woman left the hospital, declaring that
she felt perfectly recovered, and
visited some relatives. In August she
returned to the hospital, having lost
some little weight, saying that she
hadn't had good food and hadreturned
for that reason. Under the conditions
of life at the hospital she quickly re-
covered her lost weight. She COM
planned occasionally of pains in the
back and side, but had good appetite
and had the appearance of a person in
good health. She died on October 80,
1898, of cancer of the abdomen.
During the entire year digestion and
assimilation of food both liquid and
solid was performed well, nor was
there any dilation of the upper part
of the intestinal tract to form sub
stitute stomach. The food went di-
rectly from the nsophagus, which was
jointed to the upper intestine, after
the removal of the stomach, into that
intestine and was there absorbed.
Commenting on the case, the Medical
Record says:
In the present instance it is obvi.
Gus enough that the ultimate cause
of death had no connection with the
operation. On the contrary, if the
disease had not spread beyond its
original and apparently circumscribed
SITE, there is no telling how long the
patient might have lived. Certainly
the conditions for a twelvemonth or
more were favorable to the continu-
ance of necess ary nutrition for an I'M
limited period
$50 far, then, the results would ap-
pear to indicate the utility of the
operation as a promising relief mea-
sure. Beyond this, however, we can
scarcely go, when we take into account
the inevitable tendency of the disease
toward dissemination. Especially is
this the case with. these particular opera
tions, which can be necessitated only
when the entire organ is involved in
disease. We can scarcely expect to
be guaranteed against neighborin9 in
filtration of generous deposits, when
the original disease is of the duration
and extent indicated Evidently the
rule was followed in this present iu-
stance, and, although life was pro
longed but little over year, from
such standpoint alone the operation
was great success and the daring
operator is to be congratulated &C
cordingly."