Rudolph Matas

Surgical operations fifty years ago

[Dr. Rudolph Matas in his ninety-first year is engaged in writing an ambitious history of medicine in Louisiana. It is designed to run into several voIumes and Dr. Matas says he wilt not live to see its finish. We hope he wit1 be disappointed. Rather than put added burdens on his shouIders we are reprinting his “Surgical Operations Fifty Years Ago” which we pubIished in the Fiftieth Anniversary issue in ,941. This essay by the outstanding surgical pioneer in America has been considered a rare literary gem. Ed.]

IN MEMORIAM: NICHOLAS SENN; THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE HOUR.: INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRMAN BEFORE THE SECTION ON SURGERY AND ANATOMY, CHICAGO, 1908.

Distinguished Guests and Fellow Members: I feel, as your presiding officer, that I would be remiss in the discharge of my duty and grievously at fault with my own sentiments, if I failed to notice that this day is made sadly notable by the absence of one who for more than a quarter of a century was a Titan in our midst and whose voice, now stilled forever, thrilled and swayed our assemblies with the fervor of his eloquence, the magnitude of his accomplishments, the stimulus of his example and the vast power of his exhaustless energy-Nicholas Senn. Vir prœclarus et ornatus —Senn, the incomparable teacher, the peerless clinician, the scrutinizing pathologist, the perennial investigator, the faithful historian and charming raconteur; the world traveler, the philosopher, soldier, patriot and organizer; Senn, the philanthropist, the citizen of Chicago and of the world; Senn, one of the greatest masters of our art—will

EXTRAUTERINE (TUBAL) PREGNANCY.: WITH RUPTURE OF SAC; REPEATED HEMORRHAGE; LAPAROTOMY; CONVALESCENCE COMPLICATED BY SECONDARY ABSCESS OF THE LIVER; TRANSPLEURAL HEPATOTOMY; RECOVERY.

The reports of cases of ectopic pregnancy that have been successfully treated by direct surgical intervention while in the grave collapse that accompanies the rupture of the sac have been so frequent of recent years that they have lost even the merit of novelty. In fact, the literature of the subject is so saturated with clinical and pathologic reports, which bring into relief every phase of this condition, that it is not surprising that the instruction to be derived from the record of individual cases is well-nigh exhausted. Nevertheless, it is not improbable that the mere record of results in operated cases has some value from a statistic and collective point of view, even if only to illumine the prognosis and encourage the surgeon in interfering and hoping for recovery when confronted by the most desperate and apparently hopeless conditions. The present instance, however, is contributed more especially to direct