Danville intelligencer. [volume] (Danville, Pa.) 1859-1907, 1906-01-19
VERY SUCCESSFUL
SKIN GRATING

Howard Geiger, the 16-year-old Sol
of Levi Geiger, Limestone township
who was SO shockingly injured by be
ing dragged under cultivator las
summer, has now practically recover
ed after long siege of over fiv'
months of suffering. 1t is one of th'
most remarkable cases of skin grating
on record.
The accident will be easily recalled
by Morning News readers. On June
10th last Howard Geiger was riding s
cultivator on his fathers farm. One
of the horses becoming restive STRUCK
the tongue, which caused it to break
AS the result of this the front part OF
the cultivator dropped, which caused
Howard to fall from the seat striking
the ground right in front of the teeth
at the same moment the horses sprang
forward and ran away dragging the
boy along under the cultivator. 1t was
most shocking accident. Dragging
Howard along the horses ran fully one
fourth of mile the boy being releas-
ed as the cultivator crossed deep
ditch, which permitted his body to
drop below the range of the teeth.
As might be imagined his body was
one mass of cuts and bruises, while his
left arm was injured to such an extent
as to make the possibility of recovery
very remote, indeed. Every vestige of
skin was stripped from the arm from
near the shoulder to the wrist. The
skin was stripped in one mass by the
action of the harrow teeth just as a
stocking is pulled downward off hu-
man limb. A surgeons knife could
not have made a neater job of it. In
addition to this ON the under side of
the arm above the elbow the muscle
itself was town away and the bone was
exposed.
man, DR.. r. S. Patten, then of Wash
ingtonville, was called to grapple with.
That he at once reassured the family
and set about to grow a new skin on
the fiayed arm and even to restore the
use of that member attests alike to the
grip that the physician had upon his
profession and his confidence in mod
ern methods of surgery. That he has
succeeded under the circumstances is a
splendid testimonial alike to his skill,
close application and devotion to the
welfare Of his patient.
The injured arm from its contact
with the ploughed field was in dread
full condition and it was fully three
weeks before the physician could get
the arm clean and ready for the pro-
cess of skin grating. 1t was necessary
to administer anaesthetics to the patti
ent each day for week while dress
ing the injury.
1t was nearly month after the ac-
cident before the first skin could be
grated and then the surface to be cov
cred was of such dimensions as to
nearly discourage hope of success.
There seemed to be but practically one
source from which to obtain the skin
for the process of grating and that
was from the boy himself. All the
rest of the family were needed to con-
duct the affairs of the farm and to
have placed them under the surgeon s.
knife in this way would have incapa-
citated them for work.
The skin needed was taken first from
Howard's s limbs and then from his
sides, cut in strips some two inches
long by one inch wide. An anaesthetic
had to be used with each operation
and but very small surface could be
covered at one time. The body where
the skin had been removed had to be
given an opportunity to heal and thus
skin could be grated only at intervals
Of three weeks Meanwhile the ply
sician succeeded in drawing the muscle
together where the bone was exposed
and the process of general healing be-
gan.
Nothing more tedious along with the
paihfulness of the thing can be con-
ceived of. By the first of September
after over two months of skin grating
the greater part of the arm was still
exposed Meanwhile the boys limbs
and his sides were kept raw where the
skin had been removed, although care
was taken to produce healing as rapid
ly as possible.
To afford the poor boy relief the ex-
pertinent of using the skin of chick
en- was tried. This was likewise dem
onstrated as success. The skin from
under the wing of living chicken
was grated onto Howard's arm along
with the skin from the other parts of
his own body and one grew as well as
the other. All through the autumn
and early winter the skin grating
went on, the last operation taking
place about three weeks ago.
Howard is now practically we'll again
and is assisting his father on the farm
and does all kinds of work Despite
the discouraging outlook at the time
of the accident the boy has regained
the full use of his arm and he finds
that it is as strong as it ever was. The
only results of the accident that re-
main are the deep scars that cover the
boys body, both where the skin was
removed on his limbsand sides and on
his arm where it was grated. The
scars, however, can be easily borne,
considering that recovery has come af-
ter such terrible injury and such a
long siege of doubt and suffering.
First Car.
The merry hum of the street car was
heard Tuesday when the first car was
put to work on the new trolley line.