The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-02-04
FINE STITCHING IN SURGERY
Work of Modern Surgeons Finds Scope
for skillful Execution

The use of the needle and. thread in
closing wounds has come to be a fine
art. In former days the surgeons were
mere bunglers, and most wounds lett
hideous sears. But at the present day the
manner in which arteries are 1i2atured,
tenoons spliced, intestines sutured and
wounds closed is the foundation of suc-
cess. no skilled use Of the sealpel taking
its place. says the New York Herald
An English railroad hand recently
walked into cut where some labore1s
were blasting rocks His approach was
not noticed and a considerable portion
OF his body was conveyed several feet
distant by the explosion. His left arm
was virtually torn from the socket and
a large part of his scalp had disappeared
altogether. The most serious wounds
were in the trunk The abdomen had
been split open as if with a cleaver and
the intestines fell out An old army
blanket was spread over him and one
Of the men was about to get pine box
when the supposed dead man groaned.
w
pital with the greatest speed.
A London surgeon was telegraphed for
by the local doctor who had been sum
moned. The intestines, which were COW
cred with dirt and small stones, were
washed and warmed with tepid water.
There were II distinct decorations of
the small intestines, which were care
fully mended with small stitches. Part
of the mans clothing was found EN-
beGded against the spine in the depth Of
the cavity. A small, silver watch case
was found bent nearly double where it
had been forced into the stomach These
foreign bodies were removed and the
abdominal space was washed with a So
luton of biehloride of mercury. The
man fully recovered and returned to
work, but the imitation of crazy quilt
ing On his hip, where the skin had been
design worked by the surgeon which
would have been the despair Of any
decorative art worker.
Some Of the knots which form the
basis of surgical needleWorlk are most
ingenious. There is the square, or reef
knot, which is in most common use. 1t
is never used for tying arteries or any
delicate work The Glove hitch is an
other knot which is found useful in sur
gerry. It is never known to slip and is
easy to make. It's chief object is to
secure a catheter in the bladder. 1t is
ale To fog s.,,f1 I,
in order to get a. good purchase in re-
ducing a dislocation or deformity of a
fracture.
Ligatures are used in many novel
forms. The tying of bleeding arteries,
bandages. tapes about limbs to control
ton of virus poisoning the blood, as
from a reptiles sting, are the uses OF
Iigaturing in surgery. Those used for
| tying arteries are unbleached thread
A very fine, ductile, metallic thread,
| generally of silver, has also been much
used When there is difficulty in Sc
curing a bleeding point, on account OF
the friable nature of the tissues or be-
IScause the latter are too dense to be
| pinched by the forceps or Iigature, the
hemorrhage can be arrested by passing
a suture deeply beneath the bleeding
| vessel and tying the thread SO as to
include it,. It is thus that Horsley con-
| trolls hemorrhage in operations on the
| brain.
| The Staffordsaire knot, . method OF
I applying ligatures, has been introduced
| by Prof. TAFT. A small pedicle or ar
organ under operation may be trans
fixed with a single thread, tied around
one-half. and the ends carried around the
central pedicle and tied on the other
side.
There are two forms of suuures fo1
drawing the edges of wounds together
They are the interrupted and continuous
The former is employed when only one
or two stitches are used; the latter when
the wound has to be regularly sewed
| like seam. By the continuous suture
| with each stitch. which is independently
| fastened, if the thread should break in
| one stitch the wound would be held An
| irregu1aTity Of seam is often seen in the
CONTINUOUS sutuFe owing 10 the TACT that
although the needle has passed at right
angles to the incision at each stitch
there is an oblique pull upon the lips oi
| the wound when the suture is finished
This is avoided by passing the needle
| after each stitch through the loop of the
preceding one, thus making a sort Of
continuous chain called the Glover
suture,' and making each stitch partly
| independent of the rest.
Mot uo,,acJ