Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-01-13

Wv TtShSu SStStiStSlS dIO d iNuITs
Der of Doctors-common Safety
Razor Blade Plays Important Part
in Operation on Woman Fifty Years
of Age-Success Lies in Technique.
Beauty doctoring as q modern sci
fhence was demonstrated to doctors and
: newspaper men when DIR. Leroy r.
Stoddard performed an operation for
the removal Of eye wrinkles in New
York, with DR.. Julien Borguet, the
French plastic surgeon, as witness and
commentator.
A common safety razor blade played
an important role in the operation,
which was performed on a gray-haired
business woman presented under the
fictitious name of "Mrs. Arthur Man.
ming The operation Doctor Stoddard
at the outset characterized as "unmys-
FERROUS and a practical application of
Well-knOwn methods of .scarless sur
gerry"
Talked as He Worked.
As he made incisions and stitched
the operator INDUCED in a running fire
of comment.
1.-THE success of the operation is a
question Of technique only" he said,
IS he injected a small quantity Of
" per cent cocain in her eyelid. The
secret Of scarless surgery is in the
'rst move"
He made it as he spoke-a swift
snip of sharp scissor blades across the
wrinkled lid which lifted a symmet-
rical oval strip of skin tissue.
Judgment of the exact quantity Of
tissue to be removed must be made
first" he continued. "and if the judg-
ment and subsequent execution have
been correct the wound will close Of
itself. The skin will fall rather than
be drawn into place"
As he spoke the incision closed,
seemingly by natural action of the
weight of the lid, and it was seen that
the wrinkle had fallen at the clip Of
the doctors instrument. as long nails
fall at the clip of a manicurist's scis-
sors. To hold and mend the "sculptur-
ing of flesh" which had been accom-
plished, the doctor drew about twenty
fine stitches in the wound. Through
. out, the woman. conscious of every
thing but pain, %conversed with the SUE.
geon and the nurses.
How He Came to Use Razor Blade.
The safety-razor blade came into
play on the other eye, which had been
operated on four days ago and was
now so nearly mended that the stitches
could be withdrawn. Holding the thin
flake of steel between thumb and fore.
finger, the doctor rapidly severed the
white silk knots. He explained that
n day, hampered by the failure Of
any surgical Instrument to fill the deli
cate requirements of this work, he
threw an awkward surgical knife on
the floor and picked up a razor blade.
He has used one ever since.
Doctor Stoddard has practiced plas-
tic surgery twelve years. Only. in the
last five, he said, had he solved the
problem of scarless work, which he
has applied not only to cases OF
beauty-mourning women but to the
Disbursements of soldiers cut by
sshrapnel and shell splinters and hasti
ly sewn together in battlefield hos
pitfalls.
With Doctor Bourguet he discussed
the application of their science tt
of mental disorders originating
in the self-consciousness of men ant
women afflicted with facial disfigure
ments. Doctor Stoddard told Of a law
yer who had become so conscious of 6
facial oddly resulting from the
growth of masses of skin tissue AROUND
his eyebrows that he had finally re
: fused to face a jury. An operation
was performed to eliminate the hang
ing brows and the lawyer was cured
of his obsession.
Commenting on the operation, Doc
tor Bourguet said Doctor Stoddard's
work included methods different from
those in use in Paris. He intends tC
make his observations the subject OF
reports 70 the Paris Academy of Medi
cine.