The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-11
BLEEDING FOR L0CKJAW.
AN UNEXPECTED CURE IN ST.
JOHNS HOSPITAL.

A Quart and q HAIR OF Blood Taken From
the Arm Quickly Reduced an Extreme
Rigidity or Muscles ANTI oxin Also
Administer ed W Men Interested
Richard Miller, a carpenter, SO years old.
ate a hearty dinner with his wife and three
little children at his home, 433 Flushing
avenue, Long Island City, last night. He
had just left St. Johns Hospital in
that city at noon, and that he is alive is
considered remarkable by the staf Of the
hospital.
Miller stepped on a nail while at work
on September %. The nail ran through the
sole OF his shoe and made an ugly wound.
He applied home remedies. His foot
swelled, and on the morning OF October S
he found hat his jaws had set. He made
his discovery when he attempted to eat
his breakfast. 1t was impossible for him
to open his jaws more than an inch.
A physician advised his removal 10 a hos
pital. That night at St. Johns Hospital his
case was diagnosed as one of severe tet-
anus. By the following morning the lock-
Jaw had progressed 30 that his posterior
muscles had contracted until his heels
touched the back of his head. Only trained
contortion lists do this as a feat. He was
in great agony and during the day severe
commissions set in.
IL seemed to the surgical and medical
staff OF the hospital that the man had little
time TO live. At the suggestion Of DR.. j. V.
Gallivan, chief OF the surgical STAFF an opera
ton was decided upon Immediately. DR..
Gallivan said that the operation would be a
hazardous one and that he would try q new
method.
With all the STAFF in attendance Miller
was placed on the operating table that
evening. DR.. Gallivan performed the oper-
alton. He first thoroughly cleansed the
wound on the foot and then made an in
cision on the left arm near the elbow. From
this was extracted a quart and a half Of
blood. This method Of treating a tetanus
patient wa something new TO the doctors
that were present. Antit0xin was in
jeCted, a. Ia usual.
Miller had lapsed into unconsciousn ess
after being seized with convulsions some
time before the operation. From the day
he was operated on, October o, until Novem-
Der "a, he was unconscious. Anti-toxin
was injected two more times during the
elrly part OF this period. The man was
kept alive by means Of food in liquid
form.
News of the operation spread quickly
among the MEDICAL profession and many
surgeons visited the hospital to observe
the progress of the patient. Miller became
conscious In the early morning and vas
observed by IA nurse TO be attempting TO
stun some Of the bed clothing into his
mouth. He told the nurse that he was
~ravenously hungry.
1t wasn't very long after the bleeding
operation by DIR. Calvin that the contracted
muscles began to show signs Of relaxation
and by the time he had recovered con-
seriousness he ha d full control over his body
The patient was allowed to take more
solid food az each day progressed and yes
terdsy morning before he was discharged
from the hospital as cured he managed to
get away with quite a substantial breakfast.
The case is considered something re-
markable owingto the advanced stage Of the
disease when the man was taken to the
hospital. His case was one Of the sort that
are ordinarily considered hopeless, DIR.
Calvin refused last night to discuss the
case or tell where he got the bleeding idea
from. He said that he had been invited to
deliver a lecture on the operation before a
surgical body in this city and that until then
he would not discuss the case.