The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-05-26
SURGERY ron BMIGHT,s DISEASE

Have the doctors stumbled on a cure
for Bright's disease? Stumbled" is
the word, since it seems that the
use of the X-ray TO; owed by a sur
geon's error led to the discovery of. a
method of treatment that has been at
tended with gratifying results in a
number of cases. The new treatment
is nothing less than the use of the
knife upon the diseased organ. How
potent and popular has become the
keen knife of the surgeon within the
past thirty or forty years! Formerly it
was all pills and powders and plasters
and nasty mixtures, whatever the dis
ease. Now it is in many instances an
insensible sleep under anesthetics, the
quick flashing of sharp instruments.
and the excelsior of the cause of the
trouble. Surgery has, truly, made won
derful strides since the Georgia doc
tor, Crawford w. Long, discovered
practical anesthesia. If it has COM
passed the cure of Bright's disease,
one of the most dreaded ills in the cat
alogue and heretofore classed with the
lllCul dDlCSs IL mas WOA d SpleuulQ VIC
tory for itself and the human race.
About a year ago, it seems, the x
ray was used in connection with a sup
posed case of stone in the kidneys.
The photographs taken failed to show
any foreign substance in the organ,
but indicated marked Inflammation. 1t
was supposed that the photographs
were at fault. and an operation fol-
lowed. No stone was found, upon the
kidney being punctured, and the
wound was closed. Within a few days
after the operation the Inflammation
disappeared and the patient recovered.
Meanwhile it had been determined con-
clusively that the patient was suffer-
ing from Brights disease. Following
this, in two or three similar cases,
where explorations were made for
stone in the kidneys and the radio
graphs failed to show the presence of
foreign matter, surgery was resorted
to, nearly always with the result that
the Inflammation disappeared and the
patient experienced beneficial results.
These incidents attracted the atten-
ton of practitioners. and several of
them determined to operate directly
for Bright's disease. The Philadelphia
Press says that a number of surgical
operations for this disease have re-
Gently been made in two hospitals of
that city by several surgeons that it
names. and that they have been al
t1nifnru0lU GnpnaSSfn l SnrOanno
of London, Paris and New York have
also used the knife for Bright's dis
ease successfully, and many surgeons
in the cities named as we'll as in Phil
adelphia have adopted the new treat
ment in their private practice. De-
scribing the operation, leading sur
geon quoted by the Press says: THE
process is to split the membrane of the
affected kidney and sew it to the
muscles of the back. The irritation
thus created causes the growth of a
new set of blood vessels and the effect
is to Undue the organ with new life.
In a few days the swelling disappears,
and from that time on the improve
ment is so rapid that the patient is
usually able to leave the hospital in
from two to three weeks. The new
method is still in the experimental
stage, but excellent results have been
obtained by its use.''
A leading specialist on diseases of
the kidney. in giving his endorsement
to the new treatment, concluded: THE
! operation is only a trlhe more dan
gerous than that for appendicitis, and
the rate Of mortality has been very
low"