Durango semi-weekly herald., 1907-09-19
MANY TREATMENTS
FOR APPENDICITIS


0: argument drawn from every source,
the efficacy of what is properly term
ed medical treatment, and to combat
the opinion. still currently accepted.
that this disease will only cede to
surgical Intervention, says the Paris
edition of the New York Herald.
Let us see what were the results
given by these two theraputic meth
ods in the German army in period
o. 20 years from 1880 to 1900
Purgative medication. with or with
out warm or cold applications, gave
out of 967 cases, 13 deaths Us per
cent?, and S54 cures; in 800 cases the
men continued their military service
the other 81 being discharged.
Medication with opium. with OF
without application OF icebags. and
exceptionally with hot applications
showed out of 3,01S cases: 140 deaths
GAG per cent?. 2,s7S cures. of which
1925 continued their service and 252
were discharged or pensioned. With
medication by purgatives and opiates
cf S94 patients 40 died t4.47 per cent?
and S54 were cured, 1872 of these con
tinuing their military service and u.
being discharged as unfit or being
pensioned off.
Hot, cold or medicinal applications
gave as results in 492 cases: Six
deaths az per cent? and 4SG cures, of
which 463 completed their service, and
23 were discharged or pensioned. BY
anodyne internal medication in -
cases there were three deaths Il per
cent? and 299 cures, 1SS of which con.
tinued their service, while 10 We're
pensioned or discharged.
Medication of which no details are
given resulted out of 4SS cases in two
deaths and 4S6 cures. eight being dis
| charged or pensioned.
One would be singularly deceived ii
after these statistics one should af
firm that treatment by purgatives oil
opiates or by both combined Is worse
| than any other. Figures tell only
what one makes them tell, and in
| order to interpret them in n particular
case it must not be forgotten that
this classification by treatment car
be identified with that which might
be based upon the degrees of gravity
1t is in severe cases of appendicitis
those which result most often in death
that the treatment by purgatives OF
| opiates or by their employment to
gether. with or without cold or hot
| applications, is above all indicated
Thus their figures of higher mortality
/ are explained,
If. in effect, the patients submitted
to the different methods of treat
| ment are separated according to the
benign or serious form of their ap,
pendicitis. one notes that the latter
were so per cent in patients submit.
ted to the urging medication, 60 per
cent of those submitted to calming
medication. Ill per cent in those sub.
mitted to mixed medication and 40 to
AZ per cent in those treated in any
other manner.
In taking count from another point
Of the therapeutics employed in 2O4
cases which ended in death it was
found that the purgative treatment
was employed in 25 Q2.3 per cent?
treatment with opiates in 76 (37.2 per
cent? and the mixed treatment in 80
ass per cent?.
By grouping on the one hand ac-
cording to the medication employed.
the exudative forms, which are the
most serious, one finds 433 cases treat
ed by purgatives with mortality of
3 per cent, 2,053 cases treated by op.
iates with mortality of 6.7 per cent
GAL cases treated by purgatives and
opiates together. with a mortality OF
60 per cent.
The medication employed is credited
with having marked influence on the
frequency of relapses. These occur
above all when the first attack, by
reason of its benignity, had been treat
ed by q light. expectant medication.
OF 6,296 patients only 235 were op-
Grated on (S.7 per cent?. The mortal.
ity among these. divided by army
corps, varied between 0 and so or
even 66 per cent. The total mortality
reached GO (2S per cent?; 1863 of those
operated upon were completely or in.
completely cured C72 per cent?, 40
men t29 per cent? being retained in
the army. while 120 al per cent,
were discharged or pensioned of.
From these facts 1t may be deduced
that surgical invention was only rare.
ly resorted to in the German army in
the treatment of appendicitis from
1880 to 1900, since 1t was employed
In only gas cases (that is, S.7 per cent?