Experiments in pneumonectomy and pneumonotomy / by De Forest Willard.

  • Willard, De Forest, 1846-1910.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Experiments in pneumonectomy and pneumonotomy / by De Forest Willard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    EXPERIMENTS IN PNEUMONECTOMY AND PNEUMONOTOMY. By Be FOREST WILLARD, M.D., Ph D., SURGEON TO THE PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL,’ CLINICAL PROFESSOR OP ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY IN THE UNIVERSITY OP PENNSYLVANIA, PHILADELPHIA. [Bead November 4, 1891.] The results that have followed the application of correct surgical priuciples in the evacuation of purulent accumulations in the pleural cavity, either by drainage or by the resection of one or more ribs, certainly invite us to still further invasion of the thoracic cavity. With the advances in surgery made possible by increased knowledge, by improved technique, and by the appli- cation of safe antiseptic measures, further success may be expected. Operations for abscess of the lung substance, for gangrene, tumors, cysts, etc., are increasing, and many successes are recorded. In this class of cases the resulting inflammation, as a rule, has bound the lung to the thoracic wall before the surgeon has attempted to enter the diseased area; hence, operative infection of the pleural cavity is not probable, although the disease may have invaded this space before any incision is attempted. Tubercular abscesses with slight resulting pleurisy do not, as a rule, unite the lung to the costal pleura, and any invasion through the two separated pleural layers would necessarily lead to contami- nation of the pleural sac. It has long been my hope and expectation that tubercular abscess in the lung would be reached, drained, and locally treated. If adhesion has taken place, such invasion would be feasible; but in many cases, especially at the apex, adhesion of the two surfaces does not occur. In these cases, therefore, primary operation