MARVEL OF SURGERY

Hokitika Guardian, 22 August 1933, Page 8

MARVEL OF SURGERY

SKILFUL SPINAL OPERATION

MANY YEARS’ PAIN ENDED

SYDNEY, August 18

It must be a matter for regret by many that the ethics'of the profession decree that the heroes 'of surgery must go unnamed. From time to time a record is given' of the remarkable feats that are performed so that life can be preserved, and they compel .nothing but admiration for the surgeon and his ■work. Only last week details were given of an operation performed in a Sydney hospital on a man who suffered from, a fractured .spine. Now, from the New South Wale s dounti’y centre of Qoulburn comes another epic story of an operation, also to the spine, which relieved the mental and physical agony of a man who had (suffered for 23 year?. One of the youngest doctors in the State was responsible. Twenty-three years ago, while mov-

ing a heavy weight with a crowlrr, Thomas Carmichael, of Junee, dislocated the vertebrae of hi s spine.',Paralysis set in, and it is eight years since lie walked. He was .faced with the prospect of spending the rest of his days in an invalid chair, but now he is capable of physical efforts that were beyond him a few weeks ago. He i« hopeful that time will bring a complete .return to normal health. He says he feels that he would be able to walk even now, but, acting, on the advice of his purgeon, lie is delaying the test for a few weeks. ,

Mr Carmichael is 55- years of ;J . pge •[ ■and he hap shown indomitable, courage and patience, hut this, would have gone for nought had it not been for the •skill of the young surgeon. He w’S ■ gradually becoming worse, and was in a precarious state of health when he agreed to the operation, which might have spelt death for him. H© was so , lbw,,in facit, that he could not be' given a general anaesthetic, and he conversed with those in the theatre | while the surgeon grappled with his perplexing problem. It is all the more remarkable that such an operation was .performed with the aid of a local anaesthetic only.

It had previously been determined through a. series, of X-rays that the trouble .w,a s due entirely to the old injury. Armed with, this knowledge, the doctor injected into th© spinal canal ,a fluid known as oil of poppies. Normally this fluid would have' travelled the length of the spine in about four minutes, but an X-ray photograph revealed it anchored at the place of the injury. Alter a consultation with two colleagues, the doctor decided to operate, but several postponements were necessary owing to the condition of the patient. The operation itself, when, it eventually tooft place, was particularly i»tricrlte. It. was necessary to cut away of the back to a depth of about (2-Hn. ,for a. distance of about Sin. to permit access-' to the spine, which was oners*!. The bone was then chiselled from the inside of the vertebrae to allow the spinal cord to bulfe, and thus .relieve the pressure caused by the old injury. Several'cuts Ird to be made in the cord to remove adhesionis, while a piece of bone, which was causing an

obstruction, also bad to be taken apvay. (Mr Carmichael said lie experienced h° pain during the operation.