History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

170 History of Medical Practice in IllinoisHe proposed: "Mix together in the melted state, 1part of crystals of carbolicacid and 4 parts of beeswax. Mix 1 part of melted crystals of carbolic acidand 8 parts of simple cerate. Employ strong linen thread thoroughlysmeared with the carbolized wax, the smearing of the threads having beendone before the time of their use. Then at the time of using them draw thethread through the cerate. This gives them such a facility for gliding, thatas sutures, they cause scarcely any friction upon the living tissues leavingthem with the least possible tendency to inflame. (They did not realizeasepsis.) Carbolized sutures are superior only for a short time. If the sutureshould remain more than four days, silver must sustain its supremacy becauseby that time the carbolic acid is nearly or quite lost by solution; andas the wax can never completely saturate the thread, the animal fluidsabsorbed into the suture became putrid and the source of the infection."(Sic!)The use of acupressure to stop bleeding was referred back to the reportin 1867. There was given a report on epithelial transplantations as an importantresource for plastic surgery. These correspond to our present ideasof pinch grafts and many took, in spite of suppuration. They failed(andthe author quoted Hodgen) in cases where the application was on granulatingsurfaces. He quoted Dr. David Page of Edinburgh who had shavedoff the layers of cuticle with a razor or scalpel, brushing them from theblade of the knife onto the granular surface. A strip of adhesive plaster wasthen laid over the cells thus transplanted. This is the first recorded compressiondressing used in Illinois.Dr. Prince also described rhinoplasty (after John Wood of Kings CollegeHospital in London), using a flap from the upper lip and also one from thearm. Canthoplasty and cheiloplasty and obliteration of facialadhesionsafter burns were described. The report continued on intestinal plastics, advisingcontinuous suture lines and noting the prompt adherence of peritonealsurfaces. He advised a stationary position of wounded parts after plastics,i.e. splinting. He closed a colostomy occurring after a hernia operation.He quoted Velpeau and Dupuytren on their intestinal forceps used in colostomyoperations much like that used by Mikulicz later. He closed with"Fusion and Extroversion of the Bladder and Epispadias" and creditedPancoast with the idea of inverting the skin to make a substitute for mucousmembrane in an artificially contracted bladder. He quoted: "In plasticoperations in the urinary or sexual organs, it is unnecessary to leave acatheter in the bladder so long as the urine is acid, while such operationsshould not be performed if possible, while the urine is alkaline." A weaksolution of sulphuric or nitric acid was used as a lotion in these operationsfor several days.Prince's talk included vertical curvature of the spine, i.e. scoliosis.