SURGERY AT SEA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIV, Issue 85, 5 December 1912, Page 7

SURGERY AT SEA.

BIGGEST THING YET DONE. (Independent Cable Sendee.) Fremantle, November 18. Last Monday week a ship’s steward lay back on the operating table of the Osterlcy, and one of his kidneys was cut from his body with a surgeon’s knife. _ _ To the lay mind it is an appalling thing that such a wonderful operation could be performed while the boat was dipping and tossing in the trough of the sea. This is the biggest thing in sea surgery that has ever been attempted, and the satisfactory part of the whole business is that so far it has been entirely successful. The circumstances of the case are that on the date named, just after the mailboat left Colombo, a fracas occurred on board, which resulted in the steward sustaining serious injuries to one of his kidneys from a blow delivered by a fireman. After tiie ship’s surgeon, Dr. H. Hughes Steere, had made an, examination of the man he found that it was imperative, in order to save his life, that the organ should be removed as soon as possible. The patient was willing to take the chance. There was little time for reflection, as the man’s life hung in the balance. So arrangements were quickly made for the operation. The first concern was to find a position on the boat where the movements would be least felt ; as the removal of a kidney is a delicate piece of surgery.

Fortunately the surgeon had the help of Dr. Sprott, a passenger; It. B. Minnett, the Australian cricket, who is a medical student; and trained nurses, the Misses Weigall. and Sutherland. The operation was performed amidships on “E”, deck. Minnett administered the anaesthetic, and the ship’s officers say that he assisted admirably. After the kidney had been removed the patient was watched night and day by the nurses. Ho encountered a critical period during the next two days, but the attention of the surgeon and his assistants was so unremitting that he is now deemed to be out of danger. Provided no complications set in, he will in due time bo moving about in the ordinary routine of life, just as well as before the mishap. The remaining kidney will become enlarged, and in time will perform the function of both organs, just as a person, who is able to use only one arm is gifted at length with abnormal strength in that limb. This remarkable achievement created a great sensation on hoard, not only because it was considered the biggest thing in sea surgery, hut also because of the dramatic circumstances surrounding the case. The fireman who was supposed to have caused the injury to the steward was arrested immediately on arrival at Fremantle and given seven months’ imprisonment. The passengers met together, and after passing a vote of thanks to the ship’s surgeon and his assistants for the care and skill they had exercised, a subscription was taken up for the patient, with the result that a substantial sum was realised. Dr. Sprott is the quarantine officer at Hobart, and Dr. FI. Hughes Stcere is an M.R.C.S. (Eng.), L.E.C.P. (London), of St. Thomas’ Hospital, London.