Hospitalism : its effects on the results of surgical operations, etc. / by Sir J.Y. Simpson. Part II., 2098 country amputations, 2089 hospital amputations.

  • James Young Simpson
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hospitalism : its effects on the results of surgical operations, etc. / by Sir J.Y. Simpson. Part II., 2098 country amputations, 2089 hospital amputations. 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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    average of ages of those submitted to amputation in hospital prac- tice. Some of my correspondents have incidentally given the ages of their patients. These ages vary from 1 up to 84 years. The youngest subject noted is. an infant about twelve months old. The case occurred in the practice of Dr Livingston of Wishaw. The child's arm was smashed by a railway-waggon, and Dr Livingston was obliged to amputate the limb high up. The little patient did well for ten days, but ultimately sank. Several gentlemen speak of the amputations which they practised being in old or very old individuals, without specifying more parti- cularly this state of advanced age. In others of these instances the age of the patients is specified, and the following Table shows the cases of this kind which I have found in the annotations of my correspondents :— Table IIL—Result of Amputations hy Country Practitioners on Patients of 70 years and upwards. No. of Special Amputation. Age of Patient. Recovered. Died. Schedule. For Injury. For Disease. 289 70 . . . Leg 0 1 188 70 . . . Arm 1 0 45 70 . . . Leg 0 1 118 Above 70 . Thigh '. 0 1 273 72 . . . Arm 1 0 268 Above 72 . Thigh . 1 0 43 73 . . . Leg 1 0 131 73 . . . Arm 1 0 354 74 . . . Leg 0 1 240 74 ... Leg 1 0 257 74 . . . Arm 0 1 222 75 . . . Forearm. 1 0 359 75 . . . Arm 1 0 43 77 . . . Leg 0 1 295 78 . . . Leg 1 0 144 Between 70 and 80 Forearm. 1 0 106 80 . . . Leg 1 0 27 Above 80 . Thigh .' 0 1 117 „ 80 . . Leg 1 0 141 82 . . . Thigh . 1 0 1 84 . . . Thigh . 1 0 17 84 . . . Thigh . 0 1 Total . 14 8 This mortality rate of 1 death in 2-7, or of 8 out of 22, is, as we shall see subsequently, not more than the rate of mortality in most of our large and metropolitan hospitals in patients of all ages; and consequently forms an amount of mortality much smaller than could be a priori expected in a set of patients operated upon after they had reached or passed the threescore years and ten.
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