Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1915-01-28
Surgery in the Warfare of Today.

Surgery In the Warfare OF To-Day.
The great European war has seen the
application of new methods in military
surgery. It is said that amongthe French
troops there have been very few cases
of infected wounds. The percentage OF
recoveries has been surprisingly high,
and relatively few limbs have been am
putated. The methods employed in the
treatment OF the wounded are new within
the last few years. and they represent the
greatest advance in operative and clinical
surgery since Lister discovered and re-
vealed the principles Of antisepss.
Even so short time ago as during the
Spanish War il was customary TO wash
wounds with soap and water before ap-
plying dressing. The surgeons in the
French and German armies today do moth
ing OF the kind. They do not wash
wounds at all. Instead, the military doc
tor picks up wad Of sterilized absorbent
cotton with his forceps. dips il into bot
tie that contains mixture OF iodine and
benzene, and gently dabs it over the lac
Grated part. Probing is avoided. Iodine
is now recognized as the best germ killer
in existence. Benzene is first-rate
cleaner; as it evaporates, il takes the
grease off the skin. To finish the clean
ing and leave the wound in germ-free
condition, ready for the application OF the
sterilized dressing, the surgeon uses a
mixture OF one third iodine and two-thirds
alcohol.
In the present conflict nothing is heard
of"hospital gangrene"-the frightiul NAL
ady that cost so many thousand lives
during our own Civil War. The wound
ed soldier in those days might pass the
doctors inspection with every appear
ance that he was doing we'll and on the
road to recovery. Twenty-tour hours
later his wound, perhaps, was found TO
have turned black, with an eXudation OF
greenish puS. Gangrene had set in. II
meant death of the flesh tissues the only
thing to be done was TO cut Oft the limb
in which case, only too commonly, the
amputation was followed by more gan
creme, and ended in the death OF the SUI
ferer.
Happily, this worst horror Of war has
now been done away with. A few years
ago hospital gangrene was mystery; no
one knew whence it came or how it was
communicated. Today we know that
the malady is attributable TO specific
germ, and that in former times, when ig-
norance regarding il prevailed, it was
spread chiefly by the doctors and nurses
in the military hospitals, as they went
from patient TO patient, dressing the
wounds with bare, germ-carryiug hands.
We may take it for granted, too, that in
the military hospitals OF the war today
there are no cases Of puS infection.
In the present war the surgeons whose
business it is to deal with the wounded
would never think of touching wound
with their bare hands. No amount OF
sterilizing will make the hands clean in a
surgical sense. You may wash and wash
them with soap and water, and antiseptic
solutions, yet even then the touch OF
finger on sterile gelatin leaves germs that
will grow into bacterial colonies. That
is why surgeons wear rubber gloves when
they operate.
Everything possible is done with in
struments. II the wound is cut, forceps,
with serrated edge for grasping, are en-
ploy ed (after the wound has been cleans
ed TO draw the lips together. Then the
lips are sewn together with needle that
has been sterilized in boiling water.
Suppose that the leg bone has been
broken by fragment OF shell. When
such thing happened IN the Spanish
War, the surgeon, after carefully shaving
the leg, washed it with soap and water.
Nov, the military surgeon merely diSin
fects the wound with an iodine mixture,
in the manner already described. He re-
moves any fragments Of bone or foreign
matter, sets the leg, in order that the
broken parts may unite, applies Steril-
lied dressing, and leaves the rest 10 ma
ture. The operation is much quicker,
and IFS result incomparabIy better
The military surgeon OF today is eX-
tremely reluctant TO amputate During
the Civil War the fact was quite other
wise. If a soldier had his foot crushed,
il was promptly cut off, because, unless
that measure was taken, The wound was
sure 10 become infected, and might cause
the loss OF the limb, or possibly OF the
mans life. And in those days, when
antSeplic treatment was unknown, bad
ly lacerated wound could hardly fail TO be-
come infected.
To-day the surgeon does not amputate
unless he is absolutely compelled 10 do
so, and even then he cuts off as little as
he can. II mans hand is crushed, and
even the little finger can be saved, If is
well worth saving, iuasmuch as il can
hold something. The soldiers leg may
be frightfully injured, yet the surgeon will
not cut it off except as last resort.
Rather than do so, he will leave it alone
for while TO take care Of itself-after ap-
plying, Of course, the necessary treat
ment with antiseptic cleansing and suit
able dressing. His object is 10 give na-
ture chance to accomplish all that she
Can do. When amputations have TO be
performed, The, patients chance OF recov-
cry under modern conditions, with the