An address entitled: Some reflections, mainly ethical, on the present position of operations in the practice of surgery / [Sir William H. Bennett].

  • Bennett, William H. (William Henry), Sir, 1852-1931.
Date:
1903
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address entitled: Some reflections, mainly ethical, on the present position of operations in the practice of surgery / [Sir William H. Bennett]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/46 (page 28)
    acute observer of surgical affairs generally and it must be especially clear to those who are concerned in examining candidates for the various degrees and diplomas as they have exceptional facilities for judg¬ ing of the trend of clinical teaching in the various medical schools. In former times, in consequence of the great risk generally involved in any but the simplest of operations, and sometimes even in them, it was essentia] to strain every faculty of observation to endeavour to arrive at a diagnosis before resorting to operation. Now, on the contrary, when the ex¬ ploratory operation, which can, as a rule, be carried out with comparative safety, is an immediate means of clearing up a difficult diagnosis there is a disin¬ clination to spend a great amount of time in arriving at a conclusion independently of operation which it is thought may he much more easily attained by exploration. In some respects apart from any question of risk to life or other consequences, this condition of things is not advantageous and especially is this the case from the educational point of view, for although, as I have said, the exploratory operation may often be a proper resource in the hands of those sufficiently experienced to appreciate its limitations, to the inexperienced and to the ordinary student its too common use is distinctly harmful, as it frequently