Hospital statistics of stone in the bladder ... in the Royal Infirmary of Aberdeen ... 20th March, 1838 to 20th March, 1843 / [William Keith].

  • Keith, William, 1802 or 1803-1871
Date:
1844]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Hospital statistics of stone in the bladder ... in the Royal Infirmary of Aberdeen ... 20th March, 1838 to 20th March, 1843 / [William Keith]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    afterwards to be drawn between lithotomy and lithotrity may be strictly impartial, X have, in the annexed tables, confined myself entirely to my hospital experience, fixed a limit to the period, and shown the mode in which every case that offered within the dates named has been disposed of. Lithotrity has had this preference, that for it a first choice was made from the gross, and, in a majority of the cases, the most favourable subjects for operation chosen, viz. those in perfect health, having small calculi, and an unirritable bladder and constitution, the remaining cases only being left to lithotomy. Tliis admission the latter operation is fully entitled to the advantage of, as my im- pression is, that of the sixteen operated on by crushing, fifteen would, to a certainty, have recovered, had they been cut; and the fact that selection is deemed absolutely necessary for lithotrity, would tell against it as an operation, were lithotrity proposed as a substitute for lithotomy, or offered to the world as suitable in all cases of stone. No one at all acquainted with the operation will ever put forward such claims in its behalf; but of this hereafter; meantime enough will be learned from the annexed statistics to prove, that, in its own place, it is safe and sufficient, and is such an operation as the public has a right to demand the choice of in a considerable number of cases, at the hand of every professed opera- ting surgeon. The Infirmary contains 24-0 beds. The hospital-staff consists of two physicians and two surgeons. The surgical wards are equally divided between the two latter ;—those allotted to me con- taining a total of 56 beds. Within the period above specified 2352 patients passed through my wards, of whom 1350 were males, and 1002 were females; among the males there were 42 cases of stone in the bladder, among the females only one ; giving an average of one male in every 324 cases, and only one female in 1000. The average of stone cases given by the sum total of surgical cases being 1 in 54 j. The annexed tables will sufficiently explain themselves. The value of such documents depends so entirely on their faithfulness and accuracy that I have authenticated the particulars of every case by giving the name and residence of every patient operated on. Many interesting facts have come out in the course of my experi- ence, and are recorded to be communicated in my next paper, in preference to loading the tables with too many columns.