The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1913-02-09
MODERN SURGEONS
SAVE SOLDIERS
LATEST METHODS OF CARING FOR
WOUNDED WARRIORS PROVES
SUCCESSFUL.

Berlin. Feb. &.-Nothing less than a
bullet through the heart, the head or
an important artery is sure to bring
death in the wars of today. Abdom-
inal wounds, involving ever manifold
generations of the intestines, show a
surprising percentage of recovery, and
little is to be feared from thoracic
wounds that do not modest big arteries
or the heart. What used to be known
as gangrene has virtually disappeared,
and only in rare instances does pus
form at all. When it does it is pri-
marily due to neglect or to unskillful
handling by surgeons.
These conclusions are set forth in
ar article by Professor Frank COL
mems, of Coburg, who took charge of
the hospitals in Sofia at the request
Of King Ferdinand upon the breaking
out Of the war in the Balkans. Two
things have brought about the i'm
proVement over the days when any
wound of the limbs meant amputation
and penetration of the abdomen was
nearly always fatal. one is, of course,
the great advance of aseptic surgery.
The other is the form, constitution
and velocity of the modern projectile.
Except at extremely close range
within 100 yards, where the bullet Of
the armies of today tears a hole big
ger than a mans hand at the point of
exit-the projectile ordinarily bores a
neat hole through it's victim. Further
more, it is rendered aseptic by the
heat generated by its high velocity,
and it carries no particles of clothing
into the canal of the wound. The
wound is therefore absolutely germ
free, and if properly bandaged with
steriliZed b~andages, 1t develops no
pus. DR., Colmers, who served in the
Japanese hospitals during the Russo
japanese war, warns against tampon-
ing wounds to check h~emOrrhage.
Wherever this course was followed
and a great many bulgarian surgeons
followed it-infeCtion resulted.
1t is interesting to note that the
proper treatment for gunshot wounds
puncturing the intestines appears to
be no treatment at all. The most fav-
orable recoveries, say DR.. Colmers,
were recorded in the cases Of men
who, shot through the abdomen, had
been missed and allowed to lie on the
field for " or three days, with moth
ing to eat and without being moved.
He recommends that arrangements
should be made hereafter to care for
these men where they lie and leave
them there until the punCtured inteS-
tines awe had a chance to start heal
ing naturally.
A point of especial interest for Ger
many lies in the fact that the war in
the Balkans is the first time the pro-
j~ectiles now used in the German army
rifle have been used in actual COM
bat. The Turks are employing these
bullets, They consist of a steel Jacket
loaded with lead. They vary, how
ever, from those used in most other
armies in that, instead of having an
oval nose, they are decidedly pointed.
The center of gravity of the round
noSed projectile is nearly in the mid
die, but that of the pointed bullet is
nearer the base. AS a result it has a
tendency, only overcome by the twist
impaired by the rifling and by it's
great velocity, to change end in flight,
to ~"keyhole,' as 1t is expressed. The
instant the nose meets resistance this
potentiality is converted into effective
action. the bullet turns in the wounds
channel, and the result is both a more
extensive implication of tissue and the
frequent lodging of the bullet in the
body, making later operative interfer-
ence necessary. Another noteworthy
effect is that the bullet, in thus turn
ing, very regularly is stripped, the
Jacket separating eXplosively from the
core and minute PARTICLES of both
jacket and lead invading the entire
region of the wound. This naturally
leads to infection and sepsis. The
pointed bullet appears also to pene-
trate arteries more often than the
round-nosed projectile, which often
! pushes them aside with little damage