Connecticut western news., 1909-12-16
SURGEONS USE
 KNIFE TOO MUCH
ASSERT THE EUROPEAN DOCTORS
Americans Can't Agree With European Conferees at an Interesting Medical Congress at Budapest Appendicitis and Operations Discussed in Detail.

The most interesting. discussion of the recent medical congress at Budapest was tn 1t devoted to the treatment of appen- dicitiS. As usual, the American physi cians and surgeons present were unable to agree with theIr conferees on this sub- ject. The International Journal of Sur gery says of the discussion:
 "As might be expected, nothing of practical benefit resulted, for while the American surgeons, as represented by Drs. Murphy and Morris, made a plea for early operations and received sub stantial support from some of their Fronch and German colleagues, the con- seryative physicians, who were opposed to operation ill the majority of cases, ac cording to the British Medical Journal, appeared to win the day, and, as further remarked in this journal, an effective check was put on the tendency to operate frequently.
 "It seems impossible to reconcile the views of our own surgeons with those PAOAOooou DJ SO AGoA S3O e' huLAlOOA 1DA OANA Lenhartz. a gynecologist of prominence, spoke in fayor of medical treatment, con- prising rest, withholding of all food by mouth, and the administration of seda- tives. He was equally opposed to in ternal operations, and only conceded a place to surgical intervention in cases characterized by acute onset with signs of acute general peritonitis. Gan any thing be more divergent from American teachings, based, as 5hey are, upon an immense statistical material?
 "Dr. Lenhartz spoke of an improved diagnosis which had obviated the need of operation. Does it not seem strange that our own lnternists, who are cer tainly no less competent to diagnosticate these cases, are even as strongly in favor of operative intervention as our surgeons? Sonnenburg, who has probably written more on appendicitis than any other German surgeon, seemed practically to agree with Lenhartz and Lucas Cham pionniere, the we'll known French sur geon, also was inclined to think that the modern surgeon was too fond of the knife.
 Probably the most radical statements were made by Bourget, who considered operation unnecessary, and by Riviere of Paris, who pinned his faith to calomel, castor oil. rest and starvation. On the other hand, many of the French leaders in surgery, including Walter, Segond and Hartmann, voiced their views in favor of early surgical intervention, as did Kummel of Hamburg,
 "It evidently requires some courage to advocate surgical doctrines in the treatment of appendicitis abroad, but we believe that the truth of the matter is that many European operators are less successful than their American conferees at least one might gain that impression from a study of foreign statistics.
 "The diagnosis in some cases of appen- dicitis must still remain a matter of doubt in spite of che alleged improve ments, which, after all, are too often fallacious guides, and until some definite method has been discovered of differen- tiating between the so called catarrhal types and the severe forms of the dis ease we believe it is better to err on the side of surgical intervention.