SURGERY IN WAR.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17609, 11 November 1922, Page 13

SURGERY IN WAR.

jUßgg OF WOUND-HEALING. MMD:O? OEEAT WOKE. terrible weeks of ti,mr,H«Snii>g raged in the ****! d lock 'J aW mad ? Jtifdtdnw|^P r&nce > ifc seemed Hil ypywas impotent to jml vtt lirkidttn battle casualty (ffJlf'ttrluteal eonespondent of The. meticukm ad 'technique of the jmtiint. (operating theatre had, it i£ aij, derived ( enrgeons of their 'afM'isifytiTe and Resource. IJlijt moment of' fear, >with its cry: Hp 'to Liiter, 'and antiseptics," mfat H? JV« a foftotfen.- On the m of Jraace aadTßanderi surgery Kd,>not its its re-nr-tbe strong spirit of a new in■poo*. That greatUsJ»ry,is,' r told HLjs the 'lsngnaWiOt science by Hmtftlßfe ,G,qtfw£hgreon, ffi M^mt^;rgt£|lr3t Pott of the Great ft been -published. /OhftC'traee, ■fib/ step, ihe\splendid|pwgJess U; it tho laifcbroDght to,toouian HMperasing in HWI less sjglil <■ than' that S^^^^ffiMa^rwereriooked BKHlawMi^^^ l *!-^ l^ °f H|^^pKffa>tatße)f ; jso take bullets H^^^MM'thVhe'art— thanks

Coldberg-ltf nique of chest surgery which is at present in, common use. # These triumphs were won while, in other directions, surgery was vindicating itself as the soldier's best friend. , Lock-jaw was stamped out by the method of giving to every wounded man, at once, a dose of anti-tetanic serum. The not less fatal "gas gangrene" yielded, in the end, to speedy cutting away of all broken and damaged', tissues. These . two perils, springing from the intensivoly cultivated fields of immemorial husbandry, were largely banished at the time, of the Armistice. "Wound Shock." But most important of all, from the point of view of the progress of scientific thought, was the work on what is called *•'wound shock." As physiological experiment, the nature of this strange condition was elucidated. It was established ;that the shocked patient has much of his blood / "withdrawn from circulation" —as though the main stream had beon diverted into many reservoirs. He is, in consequence, bloodless, even though scarce a, drop of his blood has been lost. ' The idea occurred to givo such a man a* transfusion of blood as though he had lost much of his own —and so restore the volume in the great vessels. This was done; not only so, but, when, for any reason, transfusion with fresh blood was 'out of the question, use was made of, corpuscles preserved and kept ready at a centre from, Vhich supplies could be drawn at short notice. , The result of these methods justified them. Even in the most desperate cases the- recovery rate was trebled. Shock remains, even to-day, something of a mystery; but its elucidation has been carried a I6ng way. A}l the data "bearing on its inception are here set forth with the greatest accuracy and care. 1 Indeed, tfie volume jb a,credit to its authors and 'editors. Especially is, it «; credit to that fine example of tlio Army doctor, ,Sir W. G. Macpherson, jKhq during the war played a conspicuous', part ,in building up and ' directing the great work which it is his present task to record.