This
year, 1973, is the centenary of the first laryngectomy for carcinoma,
carried out by Billroth in Vienna in 1873. The details of the operation
were reported in 1874 to the German Surgical Society by Gussenbauer,1 one of Billroth's assistants, because Billroth was absent at the time.
The
patient was a 36-year-old teacher of religious instruction who had been
hoarse for three years. A subglottic tumor, mainly on the left side,
was found by a laryngologist and treated by cauterization with silver
nitrate and injections of liquor ferri. With the passage of time, the
tumor grew, causing stridor, which was relieved by repeated removals of
bits of the tumor. Eventually, pieces of the tumor were examined
histologically, and a diagnosis of epidermoid carcinoma was established.
Operation was decided upon, and the patient was admitted to Professor
Billroth's clinic in November 1873.
It was decided to carry out a hemilaryngectomy,
More @ JAMA
That is incredible - thanks for posting it. Notice everyone standing around breathing on the poor guy. I wonder what anesthesia was used - nitrous oxide, ether, chloroform? I am surprised about the wine to help bring you out of the stupor instead of adding to it. Here is a little story about anesthesia- leave it to the dentists to lead the way:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vat19.com/brain-candy/accidental-inventions-ether-anesthesia.cfm
(Effective anti-biotics weren't developed until the 1920s, so there's another miracle that this man survived - tough cookie !)
I was wondering the same thing about the wine. That's a great piece that I had no knowledge of before. Thanks..
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