The Washington herald., 1913-01-19
Preventive Surgery Is
Urged by Physicians

to lay the blame for accidents upon de.
fective machinery, badly arranged
buildings or poor management. This ha.
become such a common practice thai
many States are enacting employers liza.
billty acts for the protection of worker,
The purpose Of such laws is good but
the fact should not be forgotten thai
Probably as many injuries are due t.
defective men as to defective methods
For instance, a report OF the physical
education department OF the Trade Schoo
IN New York shows that out of rs girl.
examined. eighty-siN had defective
vision, twelve defective hearing and fy.
chronic nervous disease In this cas-.
over 30 per cent were found defective
end 1t is also true that 20 to 30 per cent
Of public school children have poor eye
sight and to per cent poor hearing.
In view of these facts, il is clear. that IN
order to lessen the chances for injury
and for self-prOtection employers should
insist upon a physical examination befor-
employing workers. Such an examlna-
tion would exclude the detectives and Inv
so doing absolutely prevent many acct
dents and injuries. Insurance commands
armies, navies, police and fire depart.
ments demand such examinations. and
Industrial companies would do well 10
follow their example.
fooF cSesiShl ana nearing are often
responsible for Gripping and fatal acci-
dents. II is difficult for persons so af-
fected to get out OF the way of auto
mobiles, trains, and other vehicles. Let
US insist that many such accidents pos
itively can be prevented by paying due
attention to the diseased eyes and ears.
"PhosSy jaw" PreventnbIe.
The terrible ''phossy jaw" affecting
workers in match factories can be pre-
vented by rigid cleanliness of the mouth
and more surely by the substitution of
less dangerous materials in the manufac-
ture Of matches. It is a matter for ma
tion-wide rejoicing that Congress has
recently passed a law placing such a
high tax on the common strike any
where" match as to make its manufac-
ture Improbable. This Is a striking in
stance Of the national Legislature lend
ing its aid to preventive surgery. for
this law will be the means of preventing
many mutilating surgical operations and
Of saving many persons from a crippling
and fatal disease.
Let US consider a few examples of
preventive surgery. The puncturing of
the ear drum in cases of abscess Of the
internal ear allows the escape of infec-
tive material, which, il not. so drained.
may eat its way into the bone of the
skull. producing a grave condition. ab-
scess Of the mastold bone, or even into
the brain itself with a resulting brain
abscess. The surgical operation OF pune
turing the ear drum Is insignificant when
compared to the operations for mastoid
disease or abscess OF the brain.
The removal of small scaly white
patches which are prone to form on the
outer ledge of the lips OF people OF ad-
vanced years may save them from that
terrible scourge, cancer: for II has been
shown that these insignificant scales.
which, when scratched OF come back,
are the forerunners OF lip cancer.
Surgery for Dyspepsia.
Modern surgery can correct cases of
dyspepsia. which for months have not
yielded to medicine, by removing a
chronically diseased appendix or gall
stones. Thus, operations may prevent a
gradual accumulation OF symptoms
which eventually lead TO invalidlsm and
total incapacity.
These are only a few OF the many In
stances where a timely surgical opera
ton may prevent a much more serious
acute disease. a life OF invalldism and
misery, or even death ITSELF