South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1918-08-15
VIM Cut NerUeS Are Hard to Heal
BY WOODS HUTCHINSON NJ. d.

II comes as something of sur
prise 10 most OF US when We realize
for the first time that nerves are
not a mere hgure of speech, airy
nothings on the border land between
the real and the imaginary, but
that they have length and breadth
and most substantial thickness and
toughness as we'll. The three nerve
cords in the armpit which supply
the muscles OF the arm, are all of
them Of the size of a slate pencil
and nearly as tough as the same
thickness of cotton string, while the
great nerve cable which runs down
the back Of the leg, the famous
sciatic nerve, Cor rather infamous,
or account of its being the home Of
sciatica). is as large as a good sized
ciothes-lne. and strong enough 20
lift half the weight Of the body. And
when il comes 10 stretching, they
are almost as unyielding as a ten
don or sinew. There is little Difficult
II in dissecting them out and pulling
them into position and in cutting.
beveling. and even plitting and
dovetailing the ends for the purpose
OF suturing them together.
Indeed il is probable that their
toughness and unyieldingness has
been at least part of the cause of
the frequency with which they seem
70 have been damaged in this war
An -fahioned round bullet, or
even a conical- pointed. modern high
velocity one, makes a small round
wound and is also rather easily de-
Elected by anything tough and slight
Is elastic. so that II might easily go
completely through a limb without
touching the nerve cord at all, or
merely grazing it and pushing IL
aside as il went by. But when a jag
ged. raw-edged sharp-angled frag-
ment of shell crashes into an arm
and proceeds 10 tear its way
through not a tissue in IL can es-
cape. and IL even seems 10 take d
sort Of vicious pleasure in hanging
up on. as il were, and expanding its
greatest force upon the tougher and
more resisting cords and strands. Or
il will shatter the bone into such
sharp edged splinters and frag-
I
hopelessly damage the nerve trunk.
However. it must also be remem-
bered that i've are finding more
limbs crippled or weakened by a
torn nerve trunk because We are
saving a vastly larger number OF
shattered limbs than We were ever
able TO do before. on account of our
much greater surgical skill. Thou
sands OF limbs are now saved in
spite OF shattered bones and torn
arteries and mangled muscles, which
even at the beginning OF this war
would have been promptly ampu-
tated a. hopeless. and while we can
unite the bone ard hgate the ar
teries and sew Up and restore the
muscles the severed nerve trunk
still defy our skill
However. we have hghtins
chance the situation is hopeful and
Improving steadily for several rea-
sons In the first place one OF our
greatest 6ifhculties was that while
the FIRST requisites for successful
nerve sut4re are immediate opera
I ton and perfectly clean. safe
wound. there were exactly the condi-
tions which We could not get in
modern shell wounds Every wound
+ was infected and the moment We
brought the cut ends OF the nerve
together and sewed them. the at
tempted union was bathed IN pus.
and hadn't one chance IN nifty %
catching
This meant in an earlier day that
We had 10 wal anywhere from six
. weeks 70 siN months before We could
f get a sufficiently clean wound 20 give
nerve suture any reasonable chance
i OF success. Meanwhile. the cut ends
/ OF the nerve had been All this time
/ irritated by the discharges and sup
/ puration. and nor merely losing their
v.taiu. but often swelling and IN