The sun., 1908-05-03
REED IN A BOYS WNOPIPE
REMOVED BT 4 SURGEON WITH
THE BRONCHOSCOPE.

That Formerly We're Usually FatRl
New Are Made Merely distressing An
/ Operation Dlstasteful 70 Most Doctors.
An operation was performed by a we'll
known laryngologst on a patient in the
! Presbyterian Hospital recently in the
course Of the days work. which re-
calls TO mind the peculiar death Of the
Rev George W. Boutwell, Of Brooklyn,
back irOls9l DIR. Boutwell,, In pulling the
cork from medicine bottle with his teeth,
lost his grip on the cork and 1t dropped
back in his mouth lodging in his bronchial
tube, Attempts 20 get IL out were not
successful, and after weeks suffering DR.
Boutwell, died
For number Of years foreign objects
In the bronchial tube have been removed
where possible by a surgical operation in
which the knife entered from outside the
throat The operation, however, was a
serious matter and was not possible when
the offending object had entered the tube
too tar But by the all OF the broncho-
scope all this has been changed aud non
surgical operation relieves the sufferer in
nearly all cases.
In the operation at the Presbyterian
Hospital o seven-year-old boy had swal-
lowed a metal reed from tin whistle
The piece had been in his bronchial
tube four or five months when he was
brought to the hospital. His mother and
physicians who had seen him believed
him 10 be sur ering from a severe case Of
asthma He did not respond to the treat
ment usual in that disease, however, and
was coughing and choking himself we'll
toward death whom questioned by visit
ing surgeons Of the hospital, the mother
remembered that he had swallowed some
thing tho wrong way
The boy Immediately was put under the
N-rays which revealed the tiny reed caught
at the bifurcation Of the trachea-the
point where the -windpipe' branches
To the lungs. A surgical operation cut
ting through the boys breastbone would
have been impossible. In the old days
his case would have been hopeless.
laryngologist who has become known
in his profession as the most expert In
this city in the use Of the bronohoscope
was called in. This bronchoscope is a
straight silvered metal tube with a con-
venient handle at right angles to il. The
patient was put under an an@sthetio and
this tube was passed through his mouth
and down through the traohea. The cleo
tric light reflected from the mirror at the
surgeons eye showed the troublesome
object plainly, and a specially constructed
Instruments very tiny graphing IRON
gripped il and brought il out.
Three days later the boy left the hospital
prefeCtly well. !
The bronchoscope was invented about
four wears ago by Prof Kilian OF Freiburg,
Germany. and has been used by several
laryngOlogists since that time. It's use,
however, has not spread because Of the
tiCklish business OF getting II into the
traChRl without damage IL has chanced |
that only about one laryngologist in each
Of several big cities in this country has |
attempted the operation, his fellow spe-
cialisls gladly turning over all such cases !
To him.
Therontrivanceitse,f could not be simpler
the feat il in its handling. The patient 5;
head must he thrown back in Inst such a
position and his neck extended Just So
Olc difficulty. not the least. is 10 insert tho
tube without inJuTing the vocal chords !
The boy patient in the Presbyterian Hos
pital received no Jury whatever to his !
vocal chords
III" surgeon who performed that opera
tiua has removed variety Of foreign OBJ /
j-cts" from windpipes in the last few years.
\ short time ago he was called to the Newark !
Hospital to take out a large pieoe Of hard |
corn which had dropped well down into /
patients lungs ToOthplcks, scafpins and |
orange pits are other items in the cata
lopup One voungster swallow ed piece !
Of brass which he got in prize package Of /
chewing cum and which, when wrapped .
around a front tooth, was supposed 10 eA- /
cite IN" c1vv and admiration Of his fellow /
~ q "guld" inGsor The brass tumbled ,
down the vain ones throat
In the g.. q u safety pins, a prolific cause
Of Ibis kind Of trouble the difficulty is !
multiplied few dozen times by the fact ,
that the pt.rliv things always seem TO be
open when they 90 down. But as a com /
ulement to the hrOnchOscOpe one Of ls /
users has devised an affair which being /
showed down inside the tube, grabs the I
so fpty pin and closes il up. A closed safety |
pin s no worse than anv other object Of It's /
size Large objects, like safety pins and
even the overRrown kernel OF corn rescued /
in Newark. which will not enter the tube of
the brOnchOsCupe. are simply held tight
to lis lower end by the miniature grapple
and pulled ont with the tube.