HIS OWN SURGEON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 243, 13 April 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

HIS OWN SURGEON.

A REMAIIKARi.K operation. . Dr. l'.erLram V. Allien, chief .-urgeon or a San Francisco ho-piial. has dune what was supposed to he mi impossible feat: I lie lias .successfully operated upon himself to remove 'his own appendix. In accomplishing this piece of surgical work, Dr. Alden fulfils a 1 threat he has made for the last eight years —ever since he realised that he h«d trouble with his appendix. Tne success of the operation backs up two contentions that lie has made in the face of the opposition of his colleagues. It proves tha't the spinal anaesthesia, which he has used in his operations, does not completely dull the senses, and it proves that a skilful surgeon can, unaided, perform such an -operation on himself without fear of the consequences. This astounding surgical experiment was performed on Sunday, February 18, in the presence of two of Dr. Alden's colleagues, Dr. Thomas O'Connor and Mr. B. A. iMardis, with the usual quota of nurses and attendants in the operating room . Dr. Aldcn started the operation and almost ■finished it, the only reason why he allowed his colleagues to complete the task being because he yielded to the entreaties of Dr. Mardis, who, fearful that the whole thing might end in a tragedy, threatened to leave the room unless Alden desisted in his intention to do the work himself.

"I could have completed the operation single-handed myself, I am sure," said Dr. Alden. "I injected the spinal anaesthesia myself without the slightest difficulty. In fact, I laid bare the folds'of flesh until I reached the inflamed organ. I could have finished as I began, without any aid, but the other physicians dreaded a slip of the scalpel and commanded be to stop, threatening to leave me if I persisted in completing the operation. "I know, however, that I could have done the work without any trouble. The spinal anaesthesia rendered the lower nerves of my body insensible to pain, while, as I have always contended, the brain remained clear and the hand steady. The anaesthesia did not numb me entirely, nor did it render me uncertain an my movements. "I have used the spinal anaesthetic constantly in my appendicitis operations, and I have the greatest faith in it, although a number of surgeons are not so sure of its efficacy as I am. It was to strengthen the argument for this anaesthetic that I attempted the operation on myself. Alhough my colleagues stepped in and, by forbidding me to finish the task, prevented my conclusively proving my point, I think the incident has demonstrated everything I have claimed. •'For my own part. I feel that the operation was of immense value to me. It gave me a vivid sense of the action of the spinal anaesthesia, and it furnished me with valuable knowledge oi tne sensations undergone by appendicitis patients under the knife.' Incidentally, it showed that it was not impossible for a surgeon, withdrawn from everyone, to save himself by such an operation, should it be absolutely necessary." ■What Dr. Alden treats as such a light matter is regarded by his fellow physicians as one of the most extraordinary surgical feats on record. It involved playing with death with the same kind of courage that the aviator exhibits when he volplanes, that the soldier shows when he faces a hailstorm of bullets, and the sailor has when he tempts a raging sea in a rowboat.