Surgical papers (1914-1917) / by J.F. Baldwin.

  • Baldwin, J. F. (James Fairchild), 1850-1936
Date:
1918
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Surgical papers (1914-1917) / by J.F. Baldwin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    of the department of anesthesia, and consulting anesthetist to the Massa- chusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital. Ochsner says that he made a careful test with one hundred successive cases of nitrous oxide anesthesia, compared with a similar number of ether anesthesias by the drop method. He says he found no difference in the course of the anesthesia, nor in the comfort of the patient, but there was a little more bronchial irritation following operation -when nitrous oxide-oxygen gas had been used. (Absence of bronchial irritation is one of the strong claims made by those who advise this anesthetic.) The method, he says, he found cumbersome, and, therefore, perma- nently abandoned it. The only special value that he attributed to it is a slight advertising value which the method undoubtedly possesses. He then speaks of the addition of oxygen to the nitrous oxide gas, and claims for it the same advertising value as for the other, but possibly to a somewhat greater degree. He then speaks of some of the disad- vantages which it has, and finally concludes as follows: For some time to come there will be a certain amount of advertising advantage, but as soon as this has been dissipated through the fact that every one will be prepared to administer this form of anesthesia, its drawbacks must become apparent as compared with its advantages. [Dr. Ochsner thus places considerable emphasis on the advertising campaign which has been used for nitrous oxide-oxygen. We have had this in a marked degree in Columbus, though from what I can learn no more extreme than has been the rule in other cities. We have had ex- tensive write-ups in the newspapers, even with illustrations of the appa- ratus, and with flowery eulogies of the comfort, convenience, and abso- lute safety of this new anesthetic. These newspaper stories usually include the names of both surgeon and anesthetist; hence both are equally interested in suppressing all information as to disastrous results.] [There is, however, I think, another vieiw of the case not mentioned by Dr. Ochsner, and that is, the financial results which the nitrous oxide specialist gets from this anesthetic. In Columbus the usual fee for an ordinary anesthesia by ether or chloroform is five dollars, but the charge for nitrous oxide-oxygen is from ten to twenty-five dollars. Possibly a few whififs may be given for less than ten dollars, but in other in- stances the charge exceeds the maximum which I have stated. Of course, it is well kno-wn that gas is more expensive than ether or chlo- roform, but as the cost of the gas is given as less than two dollars an hour of administration, the expense in individual cases amounts to very little while the cash returns are large.] [I had all along suspected that in the background of the campaign for this new anesthetic there was a mercenary motive, but any lingering
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