The use of the Röntgen ray by the Medical Department of the United States Army in the War with Spain (1898) / prepared under the direction of Surgeon-General George M. Sternberg ... by W.C. Borden.

  • William Cline Borden
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The use of the Röntgen ray by the Medical Department of the United States Army in the War with Spain (1898) / prepared under the direction of Surgeon-General George M. Sternberg ... by W.C. Borden. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    infrequeut which can l:)e benefited in any way by the use of Rontg-en ap])aratns at the front. Also, in considering where Rontgen apparatus are to be placed for use in military surgery in time of war, the fact must be taken into account that these apparatus are all more or less bulky, heavy, somewhat difficult to transpoi-t, and that their use requires considerable experience, and at field hospitals necessitates expenditure of time when surgeons are most busy with work incident to active operations. These disadvantages should not be considered were the benefits to be derived from the employment of these apparatus in field hospifals at all in proportion to the difficulties incident to their trans- portation and use. But, when the benefits to be derived from using them at advanced hospitals is confined to extremely few, if any cases, and is useless in all others, the time, work, and transportation expended on these appa- ratus under such circumstances can be better employed in other ways. In view of these facts, it appears that the place for Rontgen-ray appa- ratus is at base and general hospitals and on hospital ships, and that apparatus so located will meet all requirements compatible with the condi- tions incident to the practice of military surgery. With apparatus so located, Rontgen-ray examinations can l)e followed when necessary by proper aseptic or antiseptic operative methods. This plan of locating and u^iing Rontgen-ray apparatus was adopted in the Spanish-American war with the best possible results. RONTGEN-RAY APPARATUS COMPARED. Premising that these a})})ara.tus are to be used at base and general hospitals, it will not be necessary to sacrifice efficiency to too great com- |)actness or convenience for transportation. At tlie same time, the apparatus should not only be efficient and not too complex or difficult to operate, but it should not be effected by climatic or atmospheric conditions, and should be fairly portable. The choice of machines necessarily lies between two types—the static and the coil. When pro])erly managed the two machines are practically equally effective. Their ada})tability for us<^ in military surgery rests, therefore, entirely with which best meets the requirements above given. These requirements are undoubtedly usually best met by some form of coil machine. The static machine is bulky and heavy, glass enters largely into its construction, and conse({uently it can not ordinarily be as easily or safely