The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-09-10
PROBING FOR The BULLET
SOME LOCAL PHYSICIANS ARE
AGAINST THE IDEA.
Expressions on the Condition and
Chances for Recovery of Pres
ident Mckinley.

said Dr. w. NJ. Wright, surgeon OF the
National Guard, II should say that his
wound is quite serious, though not essen
TALLY fatal. In cases of a similar nature
surgeons fear sepsis Cblood poisoning in
from five to eight or ten days after the
wound is received. A point that have not
seen mentioned as yet is the possibility
that the bullet which entered President
McKinley's abdomen may have carried
with it a bit of his clothing. This was par
ticularly liable in view of the fact that the
bullet was fired at very close range. 1t is
generally believed by surgeons that bull
let fired at long range is less likely to be
septic or poison-bearing than one fired at
close range Of course, it is almost incon-
ceivable that a mans clothing should be
absolutely free from germs, and these con-
veyed into a delicate part of the body,
such as the peritoneal cavity. might work
deadly havoc. There is one thing certain,
and that is the President is having the
best medical and surgical treatment pos
sible to obtain. Every external chance is in
his favor
DR.. l.. T. Louder. well-known surgeon,
who conducts large sanatorium in Bloom
ington, Ind, was in the city short time
yesterday on his way to Buffalo, where he
will attend the annual convention of the
Roentgen CX-ray) Society of America
Wednesday and Thursday. DR.. Louder was
asked his opinion to the nature and
probable result of President Mckinley's
wound. ut is not necessarily fatal" he de-
clared without hesitation. Those two aper-
lures in the stomach have been attended to
promptly, which makes the conditions
more favorable for the patient than If
time enough had been allowed to elapse for
a part of the contents OF the stomach to
pass into the peritoneal cavity. L under
stand that the peritoneal cavity was well
washed or cleaned out. The fever that the
President is suffering may have originated
from combination of circumstances-the
two wounds In the walls of the stomach,
the wound made by the bullet becoming
imbedded in the muscles of the back and
the wound made by the operation that was
performed after the President was shot.
An abdominal operation OF itself makes a
serious wound, you know. 1 consider the
decrease in temperature decidedly FAVOR
able symptom
be expected, DR.. Louder said: "Sepsis usu
ally occurs between the second and sixth
day. Sepsis or septic poisoning means the
poisoning of the blood from decayed tissue
or clOts or any substance of the body de-
caying. What the bullet might contain
would usually be absorbed much quicker.
lets, as a general rule. Generally speak
ing" he said probing for bullets has mot
proven a success. / believe that If there is
evidence of soreness, swelling or any other
indication that the ball is doing in
jury, the X-ray operation is proper, but
that operation would probably cause a re-
turn of the fever and possibly shock and
some decayed serum might be absorbed
from the resultant wound. Since to-night's
report of the Presidents condition / feel
much more hopeful of his ultimate recOv
cry.
'I regard all gunshot wounds of the peri
toneum or any of the organs contained
within the abdominal cavity as exceedingly
dangerous" declared DR.. Frank c. Fergu-
son. Yet in the case of President McKin-
ley there is this one feature upon which
1 predicate hope of his recovery-or, 1
might say, two or three features. The first
is the promptness with which the abdomen
was opened and the wounds in the walls of
the stomach closed. We know that in
wounds of muscular organs like the stom-
ach, with the ordinary pistol ball. the
wounds close Immediately after the ball
passes through and there can be no leak
age until the sloughing takes place, so that
the promptness with which these wounds
were closed prevented any infection of the
abdominal cavity by Sloughing. / am led
furthermore TO DelleVe tndt 1n1eCtlOn nad
not taken place, that is that none of the
contents of the stomach had been extrava
stated into the abdominal cavity, from the
fact that the wounds, we are told. were
closed without drainage-this leading us to
believe that the abdominal cavity was in
an asceptic condition. Another feature of
the case that l look upon as favorable is
that the surgeons failed to find that the
intestines were wounded, the bullet not
being discovered in the abdominal cavity,
thus indicating that 1t probably lodged in
~ o1a - - Icnl fa
vorable feature is the Presidents vitality.
He has been a man of abstemious habits
and will be able 10 throw off anything like
septic poisoning which. in other cases,
would probably take place. There is. of
course, one feature in the case that is
against the Presidents recovery, and that
to prepare the patient for the surgical OPP
Grafton. BY this / mean that they had no
time TO thoroughly empty the alimentary
canal and to get the skin into the proper
condition. more especially the unloading of
the alimentary canal. In all cases where
we contemplate opening the abdominal cav
ity for surgical relief of disease, ii is we'll
known that a thorough evacuation of the
alimentary canal goes long way towards
insuring future recovery. This could not,
of course. be done in the Presidents case
because the case was urgent and required
prompt action.
"As to the crisis of the Presidents case"
the patient as out of danger until the
fourth day after the operation. II he
passes over the fourth day without septic
symptoms the probabilities are he will re-
cover
DR.. Ferguson holds pronounced views on
the subject of probing for bullets. 81 be-
lieve that had the wound in President Gar
fields case been asceptlcally sealed he
declared. Immediately after it was pro-
duced. he might have recovered from the
wound. Probing for that ball and the in
sertion of the finger by Dr. Bliss evidently
infected the wound and probably the
origin Of the septicaemia that resulted in
the Presidents death. This idea OF prob
ing after bullets is not only unscentifc
but absolutely dangerous. pistol ball,
after having entered the body. no matter
where il may lodge. is of little moment
1t Is the wound that it has produced that
Is of significance.