Review of Dr. Ruppaner's case of laryngo-tracheotomy / by Lewis A. Sayre.

  • Sayre, Lewis A. (Lewis Albert), 1820-1900.
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Review of Dr. Ruppaner's case of laryngo-tracheotomy / by Lewis A. Sayre. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    11/14 (page 7)
    Dr. Ruppaner went into an adjoining apartment, I supposed, at the time, to hold a consultation, but not being acquainted with any of the particu- lars of the case, or those connected with it, I merely considered myself a spectator, and knew nothing positive, further than that an operation was about to be performed. I recognized both Dr. R. and yourself as the principals in the case, but was not aware upon which one rested the onus of responsibility, although you performed the operation. As well as I remember, there were two tenaculums at hand, one unsuitable on account of its delicacy, and I used the open ring of the scissors from your pocket-case as a retractor instead. I have read Dr. Ruppaner’s report of Captain Bigelow’s case, in the January number of the New York Medical Journal, and consider it a correct account of the operation as far as I observed it, with the exception of his omitting to speak of the haemorrhage which interfered for a few mo- ments with respiration; this was unavoidable, as the tumor, which was very vascular, was found attached to the anterior wall of the trachea. After the haemorrhage had nearly ceased, the tube was introduced, and the blood which had accumulated in the trachea and bronchi was forced out by par- oxysms of coughing and forcible expiration, after which, and up to the time I left, the patient breathed very well. The above is all I can recall now in connection with the case, and hop- ing it may be entirely satisfactory, I remain, doctor, Respectfully yours, B. ~W. Dudley. 144 East Twenty-second Street, ) New York City, February 12, 1870. \ My dear Sir: In answer to yours of the 27th of December, 1860, I have to state that, according to the best of my recollection, the following are the facts in the case of Captain Bigelow, with which I am personally acquainted: On the 16th of August, 1869, you came to me at the telegraph-office in the Filth Avenue Hotel, and inquired if I desired to witness an opera- tion for tracheotomy, which Dr. Ruppaner was about to perform. Upon my replying in the affirmative, you requested and obtained Dr. Ruppaner’s permission for me to be present, and, in company with Drs. Ruppaner and Zolknowski, we proceeded to Captain Bigelow’s rooms, over Goupil’s pic- ture-gallery, on the corner of Twenty-second Street and Fifth Avenue. Dr. Zolknowski and myself remained in the anteroom, until the patient was anaesthetized, and every arrangement for the operation completed. I was very much surprised when I saw you proceed to operate, as I had been in- formed that the case was Ruppaner’s, and that we were there to see him open the trachea.