History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

178 History of Medical Practice in Illinoisthe largest and disfavors rapid repair (what a wrong conclusion!) andfavors absorption of septic fluid." So much were these early surgeonshandicapped by the ever-present and unfailing wound infection!Dr. Gunn then reported on Dr. Henry H. Martin'sof an elastic bandage for conditions other than hemostasis(Massachusetts) use(Martin bandage),and the observation by Dr. Wright of Brooklyn of different length oflegs in a high percentage of measurements was reported. Also Bigelow'srecent report of eight cases of lithotrity under ether, at one sitting bothcrushing and evacuating bladder stones, was described, including a similarcase of Gunn's.Dr. Edmund Andrews and Dr. David Prince spoke of their belief inantiseptic treatment of wounds; also of the dry scab which formed onaerated wounds and acted as a barrier to bacteria, "causing restraint oftheir propagation because there was no moisture." The fact was also mentionedthat the agency of putrefaction might resist chemicals such as carbolicacid, but it could not resistrepeated boiling. Immersion of the operatedpart under water to keep the putrefactive agency away was suggested, aswell as laparotomy under water at 110with salt and salicylic acid added.Dr. Prince reported a gunshot wound of the forearm which had been keptimmersed four months, using 1 gram of carbolic acid and a little salicylicacid to the ounce of water, without any odor or decomposition developingat any time. The water was changed once a day and kept warm by a lamp.Dr. Gill, in discussion, said: "In the latter part of the war, surgeons foundthat when they could have the patients placed so as to be surrounded by apure atmosphere and the secretions in the wound kept free and not pentup, they recovered. It was for that reason and not that the bacteria werecarried away, not that pus itself was poisonous, nobody supposed that, butif that pus should be allowed to remain in contact with an open wound orwas pent up, then fermentation and decomposition followed, whether thepoison was chemical, vegetable or animal." We can thus understand howdifficult it was to win the fight against sepsis and the old fashioned ideasof putrefaction.1879The Report on Surgery by Dr. John E. Owens included the treatmentof fracture of the femur. Dr. Sarah Hackett Stevenson of Chicago read apaper on disorders of the sympathetic nervous system. There was also adiscussion on the introduction of the metric system in medicine in Illinois.Dr. Owens's report also concerned the following:1. Radical cure of hemorrhoids for which injection with equal parts ofcarbolic acid, glycerine and water was advised, 10 drops into each hemorrhoid.They feared peritonitis and embolism.2. The treatment of boils with arnica was described according to Dr.