HOPE FOR THE CRIPPLED.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 February 1921, Page 9

HOPE FOR THE CRIPPLED.

NEW SURGERY AT ROTORUA.

INFANTILE PARALYSIS. BENEFITS FROM AeATMENT. Hope for the crippled is the new gospel of surgical science, and this message was clearly and emphatically preached hy the medical officers of King George V. Hospital to the members of Parliament who visited the institution on Sunday. ‘So long have the mass of the people believed that /the cripple is beyond hope that the manned in which' science is coming to their aid is almost staggering. The war and its ravages have brought into active effect the new gospel, and so much has been learned and accomplished in respect to shattered bodies •and broken nerves that medical men of to-day essay work which a few years ago would have been deemed impossible. The visit to the institution made one sad and also glad. Sad on account of the 60 little children whose limbs have been withered through the effects of infantile paralysis, but glad on account 'of the beneficial results of the treatment most have experienced. ' > 156 SOLDIER PATIENTS IN INSTITU- . _ TION. The hospital, of course, is still.a military institution. Of the 217 patients 156 are soldiers. The majority of the “blue boys”—as they are termed —are men who after discharge have been sent back to hospital either on account of the recurrence of old troubles or because the Pensions Board believed that by further treatment their disabilities might be reduced. Contrary to the gen. eral impression the number of soldier patients is not diminishing. At Christmas the number was 138, and two weeks ago, as the result of another “field day,” which means an inspection by four officers, the number was still further reduced. Since then, however, the roll has swelled again, tne new patients being chiefly men with troublesome amputations and bone injuries or with rheuma-* tism. It is the belief of Colonel A. W. Hogg, who is in charge of the hospital, that the need for treatment by discharged men will continue for some years to come, especially in view of the general success that has attended the efforts of the staff to improve the condition of the bulk of the men. Quite as important a branch of the institution, however, is that devoted to the- treatment of children who have become crippled as a result of infantile paralysis. These little sufferers have been sent there through the Public Health Department from various parts > of the Dominion. Unfortunately this ‘i number takes up all the accommodation available. All Hie soldiers’ wards are not full, but in view of the numbers of these men who are recommended for further treatment, the ward space set aside for them cannot yet be reduced. Almost all the children now in the institution are suffering from the effect of the epidemic of infantile paralysis which occurred in 1916. Although their disabilities date back over three years, generally good success has attended the efforts of the doctors to remove or reduce the disability. Success cannot be guaranteed, but in the majority of cases a great improvement can be made. The members of the party, who received every facility from Colonel Hogg, Matron Hodges, and the staff, were greatly impressed with it, particularly in regard to the children, many of whom were receiving massage treatment at the time. POSSIBILITIES OF THE TREATMENT. Major Wallis, the enthusiastic head of the surgical branch, explained that the treatment could be divided into three Rtouds: (U The Correction of deformi*

ties by plaster and splintage; (2) psychotherapeutic treatment, including baths, massage and electric treatment: and (3) reconstructive surgery. Cases illustrating the possibilities of the work were shown. In one a little girl had been born with both feet so much turned in that she walked on what was the side of the foot, and there soles of hard skin had formed. Partly through surgical assistance and partly through the use of plaster and splints, both feet hate been straightened, and the highest hopes are entertained of this bright and pretty child being able to walk properly. In another case a locked knee is expected to be straightened. These cases, however, are not the aftermath of infantile paralysis, and on this matter Major Willis, whose views arc endorsed by the head of the hospital, said specially-equipped centres would be necessary for the treatment for cripples whose disabilities were chronic. No ordinary hospital could perform thfs work. There was not the time or the equipment, another factor being that most cases of the kind had to extend over a long period. He looked forward £o the time when the present movement, which was still in its infancy, would so expand that all cripples would be able to have treatment. NECESSITY FOR PROMPT TREATMENT. Speaking specially of the work now being carried out among children who had suffered from infantile paralysis, Colonel Hogg said much greater benefits could be accomplished for patients if they received treatment as soon as the trouble developed. At present, however, the Rotorua Hospital could not take in any more children. It was explained that in a number of cases admission had been refused to children who were chronic cripples, and whose only chance of benefit would rest upon a long course of treatment that could not be offered when so many sufferers from infantile paralysis required attention. Replying to appreciative remarks of Mr. R. Masters, on behalf of the party, said he regarded the movement by the Public Health Department for the treatment of children suffering the consequences of infantile paralysis most important it had even undertaken. They could not promise to restore the children completely, or in some cases to help them at all, but they could promise to remove a considerable amount of the disability in most cases, and so open up the way for lives of increased usefulness and happiness.