The First International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics : delegate's report to the New York Obstetrical Society.

  • Edebohls, George M. (George Michael), 1853-1908.
Date:
[1893]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The First International Congress of Gynaecology and Obstetrics : delegate's report to the New York Obstetrical Society. 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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    and fully satisfying without the presentation of some startling and sent sational scientific novelty. Thiriar, of Brussels, sprung the surprise upon the members by his paper on “ Cuneihysterectomy, a new opera- tion for the cure of uterine flexions,” and detailed a case of anteflexion on which he had operated. He opened the abdomen, cut out a trans- verse wedge-shaped piece from the posterior wall of the uterus at the site of the flexion, and united the raw surfaces left after removal of the wedge by five catgut sutures. The removed wedge measured two centimeters in width, and its apex reached to just beneath the mucous membrane. The patient was cured of her anteflexion and its attendant symptoms. A coeliotomy for the cure of anteflexion, a condition which many of us consider of such little pathological dignity, was certainly a startling proposition. Thiriar, however, made amends by a most ex- cellent paper on “ Disturbances in the genital sphere of women, result- ing from movable kidney.” An interesting feature of the meeting was the operations performed daily, from eight to ten in the morning, at the various hospitals, public and private, of Brussels, to any and all of which all members of the Congress were invited. The Gynaecological Institute of Dr. Jacobs offered the most attractive programme and drew the largest crowds. Stars of the first magnitude only were billed to appear there. There Segond performed hysterectomy by morcellement, Saenger operated for vaginal prolapse, Martin removed a fibromatous uterus by coelio- panhysterectomy, and Jacobs himself did coeliotomy. It was very difficult, however, to get anywhere near the site of operation, and I am not sure but that those who visited other hospitals, especially the Saint- Jean and the Saint-Pierre, did not derive greater satisfaction and more instruction. A case of hermaphroditism, demonstrated by Dr. Rouffart at the Saint-Jean, was worth going a great way to see. At the Saint-Pierre the writer noted that patients were anaesthetized in an adjoining room, and carried into the operating room entirely naked. After being placed upon the table, sterilized towels were arranged over the nude bodies and the operation was begun. The social events were numerous, highly enjoyable and successful, and so arranged as not to interfere with the scientific work. Excur- sions, for instance, which encroach upon the valuable hours of the day- time, were tabooed during the meeting week and scheduled for the week following, an arrangement worthy of extended imitation.