A TRIUMPH OF SURGICAL SKILL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 1168, 18 July 1884, Page 3

A TRIUMPH OF SURGICAL SKILL.

On the-15th of March Professor Loreta forcibly dilated the cardiac orifice in the Surgical Clique of Bologna. The patient, B. L —•, a young woman, aged twenty, had for four years manifested all the symptoms, rational and direct, of ulcer of the stomach For the last twelve months c mstrictibn bad steadily increased; at first solids, and then liquids, entered tbe stomach with difficulty, so much so that only a few drops of broth could be swallowed at a time. Regurgitation of substances swallowed be came the rule'. The body wasted rapidly, and life could only be maintained with nutritive enemita. Having diagnosed stenosis of the cardiac orifice, Proßs-or I oreta proceeded to dilate it. He opened the abdomen in the lines alba, and found the stomach thick, small, and contracted He incised it freely, and passed an elastic sound through the cardiac oriface to make way for his dilating instrument. This soon overcame the obstacle, in spite of efforts to vomit, and the oesophagus was found much dilated. Tbe apertures in the stomach and in the abdominal wall were sutured separately. The operation was performed under chloroform in thirty minutes; and the parent, so soon as she had recovered from the narcosis, to the great surprise of the onlookers, swallowed three spoonfuls of water with perfect ease. Professor Loreta has favored us with an obliging note, stating that the patient has completely recovered (ora trovasi complelamente guarita). Shorn of technicalities, these are the essential acts of the report A young woman having become unable to swallow, in consequence of extreme narrowing of the opening from the gullet into the stomach, wasting of the body and loss of power threatened death. Professor Loreta made an opening in the body over the stomach, then freely cut into it, introduced an instrument through the narrowed opening from the gullet, and widened it after the fashion of a glove stretcher. The wounds were closed by stitches, and the patient allowed to wake Both her thirty minutes’ painless slumber un er chloroform. The happy result was soon proved by the patient swallowing three tablespoonfuls of water with perfect ease, whereas before the operation she could only take a few drops of broth at a time. Recovery was complete within five w eks. As o the authenticity of the facts there can be no qu stinn, the operati n having been performed by the Professor of Surgery in the University of B dogna, which is on of the oldest and most celebrated seats of learning in Em ope.— Lancet.