The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-03-24
LIVED WITHOUT A STOMACH.
Scientific Estimate of WonderSuI
Surgical Operation in Switzerland.

scientific Estimate of yVonderfuI
Surgical Operation in Switzerland.
From the New York Sun.
That the stomach is not an organ essen
tial to life in the human species is sub
Stimulated by the final report in the case
OF removal of the stomach performed on an
elderly woman by Carr SchIatter. privatdo-
cent Of the University of Zurich. Though
the woman is now dead, none the less the
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 pa
tient lived for year, digestng food with
other portions of the digestive apparatus
Dr. Schlatter's report on the case. print
ed in this weeks issue Of the Medical Rec
ord, states that the patient was a woman
% years old, suffering from a diffuse car
cinoma of the entire stomach Theeop-
Grafton was performed on Sept g. 1897 to-
tal extirpation of the stomach being found
necessary. About June l in the following
year the woman left the hospital, declar-
ing she felt perfectly recovered. and Wis
tied some relatives In August she re-
turned to the hospital, having lost some
Ethe weight, saying that she hadn't had
good food and had returned for that rea-
son. Upon the conditions of life al the
hospital she quickly recovered her lost
weight. She complained occasionally of
pains in the back and side, but had good
appetite and had The appearance of a per-
son in good health. She died on Oct. 49,
1898, of cancer of the abdomen.
During the entire year digestion and as
similation of food both liquid and solid
was performed wen, nor was there anv
diiation Of the upper part of the intestinal
tract TO form a substitute stomach The
food went directly from the oesophagus
which was Joined 10 the upper intestine
after the removal of the stomach. into thai
intestine and was there absorbed. Com
menting on the case, the Medical Record
says:
In the present instance 1t is obvious
enough that the ultimate cause of death
had no connection with the operation. on
the contrary, if the disease had not spreaJ
beyond its original and apparently cir
cumscribed site. there is no telling how
long the patient might have lived Ger
tainly the conditions for twelvemontb or
more were favorable to the continuance nf
necessary nutrition for an unlimited period
so far, then, the results would aimee
TO indicate the utility of the operation as
promising relief measure. Beyond this
however. we can scarcely GO when we
take into account the inevitable tendency
Of the disease toward dissemination. Es-
pecially is this the case with thtTe partic-
ufar operations, which can be necessitated
only when the entire organ is involved in
disease. We can scarcely expect TO he
guaranteed against neighboring nfltration
OF cancerous deposits when the original
disease is of the duration and extent inIi-
Gated. Evidently the rule was followed
in this present instance, and although Jfe
was prolonged but little over a year, from
such standpoint alone the at.on
was a great success and the daring oners-
tor is TO be congratulated accordingly ;,