On the radical cure of hernia, by peritoneal and intercolumnar suture / by William Stokes.

  • Stokes, Sir William, 1839-1900.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the radical cure of hernia, by peritoneal and intercolumnar suture / by William Stokes. 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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    RADICAL CURE OF HERNIA BY PERITONEAL AND INTERCOLUMNAR SII'I'UPtE.* It is obviously unnecessary to dwell on the great desirability of determining a safe and efficient means by which permanent relief from the inconvenience and dangers of hernia can be obtained. To devise snch has been a problem that at various times has much exercised the surgical mind from a remote period of antiquity down to the present time. Though Listerism in this, as in so many other departments in the field of operative surgery, has aided materially in advancing our knowledge as to how to deal with this condition in a more radical and effective way than surgeons of the pre-antiseptic era felt justified in doing—notably by disarming to a great extent what has been not inaptly termed the surgical “ bogie” of our predecessors—the peritoneum—still Ave cannot altogether say we have yet definitely arrived at the wished-for goal, but that we are within measurable distance of it cannot, I think, be denied. In reference to the subject of radical cure for hernia it is curious, and, in trnth, instructive to note in how short a time the pendulum of surgical opinion has swung from the side of scepticism and hostility to that of unwavering belief and warm advocacy. For example, on consulting several recently-published systematic treatises on surgical principles and practice—notably those of Holmes, AgneAv, Bryant, Erichsen, and others, in reference to this subject—one cannot but be struck with either the violent con- demnation, or practical ignoring of such procedures altogether, that is to be found in these works. Mr. AgneAV observes that “ after a ® Read before the Surgical Section of the Academy of Medicine in Ireland, Friday, January 11, 1884,