MODERN SURGERY

Hokitika Guardian, 17 March 1932, Page 3

MODERN SURGERY

LORD LISTER’S INFLUENCE '- ! j H

MR C, H. FAGGE’S SURVEY

AUCKLAND, March 15

In the working life of some 35 years Mr C. H. Fagge, of Guy’s Hspital, London, the eminent surgeon, who represented the parent body at the New Zealand conference of the British Medical Association, has seen the advent' of nearly all the most important dis- z coveries that make up modern surgical technique. In an interview yesterday Mr Fagge made some valuable observations upon the progress of surgery and gave some hints of developments that may be looked for in the future. Almo'st everything that was done'in modern surgical treament had been made possible as a direct result of Lord Lister’s work in the employment of antiseptics to preven t the poisoning of surgical and other wounds, said Mr Fagge. Not even the practical application of 'anaesthetics had had so great an influence upon the surgical progress.

It was strange to recall how : very, little use was made of Lister’s discovery by contemporary surgeons, and stranger still when the importance pf the work was at last appreciated, and applied to the limited number pf.-sux-, gical operations which were then practised, that many of the leaders of the profession believed that the ultimate stage in the development, of surgery, had been reached, that surgical ‘methods for the treatment of sickness and, disease were at a dead end. Yet at thaj, stage surgery, as known - to-day, had hardly been begun. It was pot until the middle ’nineties that the surgical treatment of the abdominal organs was seriously attempted. The striking success of preliminary abdominal work probably served to indicate the immense possibilities of surgical development and there was no lack of workers to elaborate technique.

DEBT TO OTHER SCIENCES

“My conclusion ; from the surgical progress of the last 30 years or so is that this progress has been due mainly to the discoveries of workers in quite different spheres of the treatment of sickness or the discovery of its causes,” said Mr Fagge. “A good popular example of what I mean is provided by the extraordinary application which has been found, both in medicine and surgery, for the X-ray, the discovery of which was the work of a brilliant physicist who, presumably, knew nothing either of medicine or surgery. To surgery alone the employment of the X-ray has proved of incalcuable value.

“Some of the more recent work- in surgery is of particular interest and of great significance in..showing how. even the most complex and vital parts', of the body may be treated with the knife,” continued Mr Fagge. “Recently extraordinary progress has been made in surgical treatment of certain parts of the nervous system. This work has produced results of great importance, and it is proceeding rapidly. Now preliminary work is being done upon the brain, the lungs, and even the heart itself, all organs which, until recently, the surgeon avoided.

“The scope of . this treatment is so far constricted mainly because of the physical limitations under wffiich it is conducted. All these organs are of a vital nature, and, in the case o. the brain particularly, their working is imperfectly understood. Because of this, and because of his present lack of knowledge of the effects of treatment, the extent to which it may . be carried, and the best methods of applying it, the surgeon must proceed cautiously. In dealing with branches of his work, the surgeon .is confronted by an impenetrated wall of ignorance, but it is only necessary to look hack a few years to see that, obstacles quite as formidable have been completely overcome, and I have no doubt that the ignorance on these subjects also will ultimately he dis~ pelled.”

THE ATTACK ON CANCER

Regarding the control of cancel, Mr Fagge deprecated undue optimism. “Tlie problem is being attacked from many angles, and various methods now being developed have proved successful in dealing with certain forms of the disease,” he said. “On some types radium has proved' invaluably. The response of others t° new forms oftreatment by penetrating X-rays is. little short of miraculous, and other new forms of treatment have given promising results. Other types of the disease will yield well to the knife, and to the knife alone, and others again will respond to no treatment, and seem likely to remain unresponsive for the present. Curative science* is doing its utmost to surmount onW of the biggest problems it has yeV tacked. That it will ultimately be successful 1 am hopeful, hut that it has still a hard task before it I am certain.” ...