TREATING WOUNDS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24196, 11 February 1942, Page 9

TREATING WOUNDS

NEW METHODS USED FEWER AMPUTATIONS EXPERIENCE OVERSEAS With field ambulances acting on the basic instruction to get the wounded as far back from the fighting as they can, and as quickly on to the operating table as they can, the war has already shown that of the soldiers wounded there are fewer fatal infections, fewer amputations, and, on the average, more rapid recoveries than in the last war. Auckland Army medical authorities have confirmed this. Promptness in giving surgical attention is one of the factors leading to this result. For instance, air ambulances, one of which was recently shot down in the Western Desert by German fighting aeroplanes, may save days in getting the men to the basthospital. Every hour saved in putting the soldier 011 to the operating table increases liis chance of recovery. Use ol New Chemicals Another factor is the use of powerful anti-toxins and germ-killing chemicals, which have been available only in recent years. There is now a good defence against tetanus which makes a soldier immune for weeks, perhaps months. The British Medical Journal has reported that in the first year of the present war less than one man out of 2000 developed tetanus, compared with 16 in 2000 in 1914-18. Like those of tetanus, gas gangrene germs thrive in the absence of air, so they are most dangerous in deep wounds. These days wounds are cleaned out thoroughly and dressed. Sometimes the wound is packed with a zinc peroxide dressing, a'_>d sometimes with powdered sulfanilamide. There is also a successful serum against gangrene. As a first step in the treatment of a wound, sulfapyridine is given through the mouth. Different Wound Treatment The cleaning out of the wound, or debridement, has as its basis the removal of all dead and bruised tissue so the germs will have no dead cells or foreign matter on which to* obtain a foothold. The surgeon not only cuts out all the bruised tissue, but he also uses a brush and vigorously scrubs the wound with soapy water and antiseptic. . After this drastic toilet, the wound is dressed, and here it is stated the surgeons have a technique which js working wonders. It was invented in France in 1918 by a young United States Armv surgeon and was in striking contrast with the existing practice of keeping redressing the wound with antiseptics. Under the American surgeon's method, after the initial debridement, the clean wound was packed with a gauze soaked in vaseline, the whole then enclosed in plaster, and left to itself. There is no sewing up of the wound, no irrigation, no drainage, 110 redressing. The rigid plaster gives the whole area a rest and leaves, nature to work the cure. This was used by a Barcelona surgeon as an emergency measure for air raid victims during the Spanish Civil War and of 1073 wounded persons so treated he lost only six. Other ways of helping wounds to heal quickly wnieh are being used in this war are blood banks and giving the patient a proper supply of vitamins. They all tend to shorten the convalescence.