South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-07-13
EYE SURGE NS
WORK WONDERS
Transplant Part of Mucous
Membrane and Graft
EyeIidS.

PARIS. July 13-The ma king Of
the eve region through the trans
plantation Of part OF the mucous
membrane and the grating of eye
lids and lashes are among the mar
vels Of plastic surgery accomplished
in France during the war by DR.
Louis BOrsch, the famous American
oculist. who. since August. 1914. has
been chief ophthalmic surgeon a.
the huge Grand Palais Military
hospital in Paris.
DIT. BOrsch has just returned from
trip 20 the the trenches and field
hospitals, which ne made at the re-
quest OF the department OF health
for the purpose OF advising as to the
possibility OF improving existing
methods Of treating wounds OF the
eye and saving the vision OF the
thousands OF soldiers who in this lat
ter phase of the war are suffering
from such injuries.
Three years of constant daily
experience In the treatment of eve
wounds at the Grand Palais." said
DR.. BOrsch on his return, has en-
abled me 10 witness "A very consider
able Improvement in the methods
employed. and very gratifying re
suits are now being obtained If
we could have taken up cur task in
1914 with the benefit of the exper-
fence we have since acquired. our
results would certainly have been
more than 100 per cent better
Early Treatment Necessary.
The one great lesson we have
learned is that our chances Of oper-
ating successfully in cases Of eve
wounds are enormously increased
when patients are brought 10 us i'm
mediately after they have received
their wound. The same remark. of
course, applies TO all wounds. and all
surgeons are insisting emphaticaIlv
upon the need for the lightning
transportation of the wounded to
hospital
How we'll the heads Of the
French medical service realize this
will be understood when / say that
during my Champagne trip I found
many cases in which the wounded
had been brought from the trenches
operated upon, with all dressings
completed within four hours of
their receiving their injuries. The
surgeons and nurses work under the
constant menace of death. 1 myself
saw them working in first aid dug
outs and in the hospitals just behind
the lines amidst never ending
showers Of big shells, yet they han
die their patients with GOODNESS,
rapidly and skill which would not
ne surpassed in the operating
theater OF a Paris hospital
The wounded are unanimous in
their praises of the treatment they
receive. and so thorough and eff
cient is it that I do not think il
possible to improve upon the work
Of the field hospitals that we in
spected. We saw many wounded
with severe fractures of the thighs
and legs who were walking about
the wards in a special apparatus
four days after their being wound
ed; these men assured me they had
never suffered a moments pain.
Care For Germans.
I'VE also saw many German
wounded, and there was not one OF
them who did not seem pleased TO
be a prisoner in French hands. They
are treated with precisely the same
care and devotion as the French
wounded. whose wards they share.
and no distinction whatever is
made.
You have TO see the courage and
Cheerfulness of the wonderful pOilus
and their officers while their wounds
sometimes very hOrrible-are be
ing treated. 10 understand fully how
the French army has won the admir-
alton Of the world.
Dangerous eye wounds, that in
their treatment call for nerves of
steel i'm the surgeon and a hand that
never deviates a hairs breadth. are
tended amid the most hellish uproa,
imaginable. the quick and efficient
use of the eve magnet. for instance. |
for drawing out shell splinters from |
the region of the eve socket has |
saved sight in thousands of cases.
Unfortunately beneath the cease
less cataract of exploding shells the |
face wounds i'm many cases are so /
bad that no ophthalmic skill could /
possibly save the sight. But there
plastic surgery. one OF the wonders
Of che war comes in TO make the
victims face again presentable
Plastic work goes further than the
of shattered Jaws and
noses, the upper part Of the face.
including the eve region. can be