Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: On ovariotomy / by J. Marion Sims. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
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![ON OYATlIOTO]\rr. the whole abdominal region. During all this time the menses have been regular and normal in quantity. She was admitted to the Woman's Hospital on the 4th of November, 1872. She measured forty inches in circumfer_ ence, and the tumor was diagnosed unilocular ovarian cyst; and, as the general health of the patient was fair, it was pro- nounced favorable for operation. She had arrived at the pe- riod when it was necessary either to tap the tumor or to re- move it. On due consideration, she selected the latter, and Dr. Walker performed the operation on the 8th of N'ovember. He made the usual incision, about three inches long, and, when he arrived at the peritoneal membrane, he found it every- where adherent to the cyst anteriorly and laterally, and it was necessary to enlarge the incision. The adhesions were very firm and difficult to break up. After they were all separated, the cyst was punctured, and twenty-seven pounds of chocolate-colored, viscid, albuminoid fluid were evacuated. The pedicle (right) was enucleated from the cyst, and bled very freely. Two small vessels were ligated with cat-gut, and, as there was a good deal of bloody oozing from the enucleated surface of the pedicle, this surface was folded together longi- tudinally and stitched up with half a dozen turns of fine silver wire ; the end of the pedicle was then transfixed with a strong silver wire and tied with the figure-of-8 loop. On searching for the left ovary, he found its place occupied by a flat, irregu- lar-shaped body, some three or four inches long by about two wide, and a half-inch thick, having somewhat the color and appearance of a small pancreas flattened out. This was re- moved, and its pedicle ligated as usual with the figure-of-8 loop of strong silver wire. There were four small pedunculated fibroids on the fundus and posterior wall of the uterus, two about the size of filberts, and two not larger than English peas. Mr. Spencer Wells cautions against the temptation to interfere with such outgrowths. Nevertheless, these were re- moved ; the peduncles of three were tied with very fine silver wire. A small one on the top of the uterus was twisted off but the torsion did not prevent bleeding, and, after some delay, it was arrested by the actual cautery. The peritoneal cavity was then cleared of coagula, and a](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21520185_0071.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
