A Century of Service - Eoin O'Brien

The Voluntary Hospital Movement and the Dublin School
An operation in a Dublin drawing room on July 20th 1817.
a manual dexterity swift as a sword in the juggler’s hand … one searches in vain
through their writings for any hint of ‘principles’ on which they based their surgical
treatment: such as appeared to guide them were derived from the accumulated
experience of individuals through the centuries that had gone before.” 30 And yet the
accumulated experience of the ages restricted them but little in their attempts to
perform the impossible. Overwhelming evidence pointing to the inevitable mortality
of an operation served more often to encourage the surgeon to enhance his
reputation on the slim chance of being successful than to desist from hopeless
intervention. He was ready to treat all forms of injury, such as fractures and
dislocation, and he would have had a go at removing any lump or bump be it a
tumour, malignant or innocent. There were a number of “capital operations” which
were almost invariably fatal. These included the release of the strangulated hernia,
major amputations, ligation of the larger arteries for aneurism, and removal of
kidney stones known as lithotomy. 30 Surgical skill was often judged by the speed with
which a stone could be removed, and William Dease was reputed to carry a stone in
his pocket ready to slip into the bladder should none be found there. 31 Another
“capital operation” terrible to even contemplate was the use of the trephine for head
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