AMPUTATION THROUGH THE ARM VS. EXCISION OF THE ELBOW; A CASE OF CONSERVATIVE SURGERY.*
BY HERMANN B. GESSNER, M.D.Demonstrator of Operative Surgery, Medical Department of Tulane University of Louisiana; Professor of Anatomy and Surgery, New Orleans College of Dentistry.
NEW ORLEANS, LA.
Frederick Treves1 makes the following statement under the heading, "The General Considerations of Excision Operations:" "The surgeon must be fully alive to the general surgical aspects of the case, to the condition of the patient, to his prospects of standing a long and severe operation, and to his capacity for exhibiting vigorous powers of repair. An excision is to some extent a plastic operation, and good and substantial healing is a necessity." Having given this out as my text, let me bring forward the details of the following case:Thomas R., a colored farm-hand, 21 years of age, was admitted to the Charity Hospital on September