The surgical use of celluloid thread / by W.W. Keen and Randle C. Rosenberger.

  • Keen, William W. (William Williams), 1837-1932.
Date:
1900
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The surgical use of celluloid thread / by W.W. Keen and Randle C. Rosenberger. 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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    [Reprinted from The Philadelphia. Medical Journal, March 10, 1900.j THE SURGICAL USE OF CELLULOID THREAD.1' By W. W. IvEEXj of Philadelphia, Professor of the Principles of Surgery and of Clinical Surgery, Jefferson Medical College, AND RANDLE C. ROSENBERGER, M.D., Demonstrator of Bacteriology and Normal Histology, Jefferson Medical College. Seeing in the Centralblatt f. Chirurgie, for September 2b, 1899, a reference to some celluloid thread recently devised by Prof. Pagenstecher, I wrote to him, asking that I might have some sent in order to test its merits. As soon as I received it I delivered it to Dr. Rosen- berger, of the Jefferson Medical College Hospital Labo- ratory, and submit herewith the very satisfactory report made of experiments. It will be observed that both* by the report and by examination of the specimens that I hand to you that the tensile strength is very great even for very small sizes, that it is very flexible and does not easily become untied, that even without any sterilization after it had been sent from Germany in an ordinary pasteboard box, handled by myself without sterilizing, my hands, and by Dr. Rosenberger without any sterilization of his hands, the thread was almost absolutely sterile. (See Exp. III.) The tensile strength is increased by almost every method of treatment for its sterilization, dry heat more than doubling it (Exp. VI), and, what is quite as im- portant, there is, apparently, no method of sterilization which is not applicable to it. It elongates slightly, e. q. 1.5 kg. elongated a piece 30 cm. long to 30.5 cm. It absorbs fluids to about 41 %. This seems to be its only disadvantage (Exp. II). One silk thread absorbed more the other less, than the celluloid thread (Exp. IX.) In my private work and at the Jefferson Medical College Hospital, Profs. Horwitz, DaCosta, Hearn, and