The history of nine cases of ovariotomy / by T. Gaillard Thomas.

  • Thomas, Theodore Gaillard, 1831-1903.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The history of nine cases of ovariotomy / by T. Gaillard Thomas. 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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    A post-mortem examination revealed no trace of perito- nitis and no secondary bfemorrhage. The tumor, wlien placed upon a table and palpated, was so deceptive in its apparent yielding of fluctuation, that it was even then declared to contain fluid which had not been reached by the trocar, and this view was entertained until it was bisected. It was found that it consisted of loose fibrous elements, forming numerous loculi, about the size of a hickory- nut, which were filled with a honey-like material. After sec- tion had allowed what was computed as about three pounds of this material to flow away, the tumor weighed a little more than fourteen pounds. To one not familiar with the difliculties attendant upon the diagnosis of these cases, and their differentiation from cystic disease, it may appear astonishing that so grave an error should have been made in this case. They who have encoun- tered them will readily agree that not only is diagnosis very difficult, bu.t often impossible, without exposing the patient to the risks of paracentesis. In this case I did not resort to this explorative procedure, because my mind did not admit a doubt as to the true nature of the tumor. On two other occa- sions I was, with others, similarly deceived: ^one was a case that I saw in consultation with Dr. Peaslee, and in which he subsequently made an explorative incision that proved fatal; the other was removed l)y a long abdominal incision by Dr. O'Reilly, the patient dying on the seventh or eighth day. Case III.—Alveolar cancer of left ovary; ascites ; removal of cancer / return of pedicle to ahdomen / death of patient on eighth day, from septicozmia. Mary McC, aged twenty-one years, single, a cook by occu- pation, was sent to me by her employer on account of an ab- dominal enlargement. Upon examination I found her very sallow, almost jaundiced in appearance, very large about the abdomen, and exceedingly weak. She informed me that just one year before that time, she had noticed a slight abdominal enlargement, which had steadily and rapidly increased. At the same time she had emaciated rapidly, grown very weak