Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-04-03
REPAIRING A SEVERED ARTERY.
Achievement in Surgery Hitherto Re-
garaed AS Impossible.

From the Philadelphia inquirer.
In the recent medical archives in the IL
brary of ST. Petersburg is an account of a
most wonderful operation performed by
kamtsky, one of the greatest surgeons of
his time, an operation like which no other
is recorded. Poitinkosh, a rich farmer,
cattle raiser and reindeer farmer, residing
north of ST. Petersburg, suffered an injury
to the upper end of the right thumb.
caused by being violently hurled from his
sleigh, the latter having struck a stump.
The farmer IN falling was jagged by snag
which struck about two inches below the
fold of the flank, causing a torn, bleeding
gaping wound of about four inches in
length, directly downward and in a line
over the femoral artery (the large artery
which supplies the entire leg with blood,
the latter vessel having been laid bare and
severely bruised in the wreck, no large YES
sells having been torn.
Kamtsky, with the great wisdom of a
world Of experience, wisely apprehended the
possible results of this peculiar wound. and
for the next twenty-four hours he spent
every minute of his time. valuable as 1t
was, working with chemical fire, molten
substances and apparatus Of divers kinds
until finally the object of his efforts
finished. a small, hollow elastic, colorless
tube, about five inches long, the compost
ton of which is not recorded, consequently
was finished careful scrutiny of the injured
limb revealed slightly blush tint, scarce
ly noticeable, on the end of the great toe.
This was the signal for operation to the
surgeon, and the stockman was immedi-
ately taken to the operating room. where.
in order to arrest oncoming grangrene, he
was subjected to an odd and experimental
operation.
After the patient was anaesthetized the
wound was uncovered, carefully cleaned
and the tissue carefully pushed and dis
Sected away from the large artery, exposing
about three and one-half inches of bruised
vessel. ready to disintegrate. A clamp WAS
placed on the artery an inch above where
normal sound tissue began; then he cut the
artery at the junction of the bruised and
sound tissue, and. carefully drawing the
mysterious tube from Its asceptic hiding
place, he slipped the cut, round end OF the
vessel into it about an inch, being exceed
ingly careful while so doing to keep the
hollow tube collapsed and empty, to
avoid all danger produced by the entrance
of air.
Repeating the same process at the lower
end of the artery, he inserted the tube into
the end of the vessel about the same dis
lance as the upper end lay in the tube
Then gently releasing the lower clamp. he
allowed the tube to fill with blood from the
portion of the vessel below Then the final
test came. when he gently and steadily re-
moved the clamp above the tube, thus es-
tablishing unbroken channel which
would carry the blood to its normal distri-
Dutlon "A Slight pouCnlIS OF the TUBE at
first caused some fear to whether 1t were
strong enough to stand the pressure of the
| heart wave of blood the latter pulsated
through its new channel. This latter de-
| feet was overcome, however, when the tube
was laid in the bed of the bruised exsected
portion and the external support of the
| muscles and tissues gave 1t sufficient
strength to overcome the pressure OF the
| blood stream The wound was carefully
closed, the parts set at rest and results
awaited. In tbirty-six hours the blue tint
had disappeared from the toe and the color
| OF the skin of the leg changed from a pale
ashy to pink.
Two months afterward the patient was
attending his everyday duties as formerly,
suffering no Inconvenience whatever from
| his wound. Five years afterward the pa
tient died of acute pneumonia and post
| norton examination of the seat of the
| wound revealed strong, firm, plastic COM
position tube Immediately in the "stu'' of
| the composition tube, the latter having been
| absorbed by the blood, not. however, before
| the lymphatics had SO encysted 1t, just as
| a bullet becomes encysted in the body after
| months of time, to the extent that when
| the tube was eaten away by the blood this
/ fbrous coat answered the original plan of
circulation.
| Mr.. Homely Is mot a beauty and he
| knows it. When his first baby was born he
| asked:
| Does 1t look like me?"
OF course, they said Yes"
| We'll" said he you must break II to
\ my wife gently."-Tit-B