THE PURSE-STRING SUTURE IN GASTRORRHAPHY FOR GUNSHOT WOUNDS.—AN EXPERIMENTAL CONTRIBUTION.

One of the important elements of success in the treatment of gunshot and stab wounds of the stomach is time. Unnecessary time lost in finding and suturing the visceral wounds is a source of immediate danger to life which should be eliminated as far as possible by means which enable the surgeon to make a quick and correct diagnosis and by resorting to a method of suturing which closes the wound safely and securely with the least possible delay and which leaves it in a condition most favorable for speedy definitive healing. It is well known that small penetrating wounds of the stomach often heal without operative intervention. By contraction and relative displacement of the different muscular layers of the thick wall of the stomach the tubular wound is contracted and obstructed sufficiently to prevent leakage until the canal on the peritoneal side becomes hermetically sealed by firm plastic adhesives