Comments on: Horror stories from the history of surgery

By: snagglepuss

snagglepuss — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 02:05:00 +0000

It’s all okay – I wasn’t planning on eating for the next week or so anyway…

By: Velocirapt42

Velocirapt42 — Sat, 16 Jun 2012 02:00:00 +0000

“City of Dreams” by Beverly Swerling has some surgeon characters in Nieuw Amsterdam in the 1600s. While their dedication to their craft is admirable, the descriptions are appalling (although they, unlike the physicians, actually do some good.) A description of an experimental breast cancer surgery nearly made me vomit (but of course, was fascinating.) There is also a description of a diphtheria epidemic in that series that everyone who thinks vaccines are unnecessary should read…

By: donniebnyc

donniebnyc — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 17:25:00 +0000

The only part of the wiki article on flower remedies that matters: Systematic reviews of clinical trials of Bach flower remedies found no efficacy beyond a placebo.

In other words, it will work about as well as praying to the FSM.

By: IronEdithKidd

IronEdithKidd — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 13:06:00 +0000

Try having a baby in America. Fucking ridiculous how much “medical guidance” is based in superstition or “tradition”. I ended up doing quite a bit of research to parse the genuine concerns from the quackery.

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:30:00 +0000

Also along the lines of… they just don’t NOT disinfect and sterilize the way they didn’t use to. Or something like that.

By: CH

CH — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 10:13:00 +0000

“Ah, the good old days…”

Yeah… they just don’t operate anymore like they used to. *sigh*

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 07:07:00 +0000

Robert Liston, nineteenth century “surgeon”, could amputate a leg in 2 1/2 minutes, but there was no anesthesia in those days, so the patient would thrash about violently.
In one infamous instance, Liston inadvertently severed his assistant’s fingers (gangrene killed him soon after) and slashed a distinguished spectator who dropped dead right there, at the sight of blood and fright that his organs had been “compromised”.

Add to that the fact that the patient ALSO died of gangrene while in the recovery ward, and you get this humdinger of a quote: “The only operation in history with a 300 percent mortality rate.”

Ah, the good old days…

By: Rudy Moore

Rudy Moore — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 05:29:00 +0000

Un chien Andalou? (not really)

By: DevinC

DevinC — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 03:20:00 +0000

It’s worth noting that the author of the article is none other than Dr. Atul Gawande, which is one reason why it’s so succinct and generally awesome. Just about anything he writes is worth reading.

By: Daneel

Daneel — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:50:00 +0000

I remember reading something in Karl Shaw’s book ‘Gross’ about surgery; it was about amputation during the Napoleonic wars. Apparently Napoleon’s chief surgeon could remove a leg in 15 seconds or so. The ‘fact’ referred to a British surgeon whose personal record was something similar but in his haste he accidentally also removed two of his assistant’s fingers and one of the patient’s testicles.

Edit: Should have RTFA before commenting.

By: timquinn

timquinn — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 01:34:00 +0000

“The eye-lids were separated by the thumb and finger of the left hand, and then, a broad cornea knife was pushed through the cornea at the outer angle of the eye, till its point approached the opposite side of the cornea.”
I think I have seen the film of this operation.

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:36:00 +0000

I just read that cataract surgery goes way, way back. Sushruta was operating on eyes and other parts about 800 BCE in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sushurata

By: Andrew Williams

Andrew Williams — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 00:10:00 +0000

Okay, just hold it right there. I’ll have this drawing of your mutilated leg finished in about 45 minutes…

Now that we’ve hacked away all that meat, let me get one of the bone. Doctor, pull back the flesh with this handkerchief.

By: artbyjcm

artbyjcm — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:43:00 +0000

“What grandpa? You guys didn’t just grow new teeth? You would screw fake ones in your head or something? What do you mean ‘if you could afford it’?”

Also, more on topic of what you were saying. I read up on the poor girl. I guess if something doesn’t happen that often it legally doesn’t have to be documented. So the flesh eating condition she has is essentially being ignored compared to many other medical oddities. I find this odd, and a bit alarming. What if it evolves to the point of an outbreak one day? I feel like something that scary should at least a bit more attention payed to it, regardless of how infrequent it is.

By: Petzl

Petzl — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:14:00 +0000

Just double-blind test it against a placebo, that’s all you need to understand it.

By: Nadreck

Nadreck — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 22:12:00 +0000

The gruelling horror film “Corridors of Blood” is mostly hard to take, not because of the body-snatching or murders, but because of the historically accurate portrayal of a pre-anaesthetic hospital. From IMDB:

Dr. Thomas Bolton fights for the use of anesthetic in surgery and uses himself as a guinea pig but soon finds himself addicted.

By: seanmchugh

seanmchugh — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 21:23:00 +0000

OK, I’m sorry for being sassy, but not for criticizing. Have you read the wikipedia entry on flower remedies? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach_flower_remedies

I agree, energy that is subtle exists. Dark energy certainly meets the criteria for subtlety. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy
In fact, because it is so subtle, it has no practical influence on human scales. That’s why physicists have to work so hard to see it’s effect. On biological time scales, eark energy is irrelevant and chemical energy (electromagnetic) dominates. Here, the subtle is a synonym for irrelevant. What do you mean by “subtle energy?”

By: silkox

silkox — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:52:00 +0000

My favorite part is how they have him sitting on a cushion to make him more comfortable.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:50:00 +0000

I would find this less disturbing if it didn’t describe the experience of one of our patients c. 1982.

By: Laura Harden

Laura Harden — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:42:00 +0000

Very easy to criticize and make fun of I am sure, you like to hit easy targets I see. Your loss, not mine. Even if they stop selling them in stores, I know how to make my own. I can’t say that I don’t understand your POV. I lived much of my life with a closed mind. I was lucky enough to have it cracked open against my will
Btw, subtle energy definitely exists. As Einstein put it, energy that is present, but not fully understood.

By: fenrox

fenrox — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:41:00 +0000

Nice wang though.

By: seanmchugh

seanmchugh — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:26:00 +0000

I find these to be as effective as Flower essences of all brands:
http://boingboing.net/2012/05/16/placebo-now-available-in-maxi.html
Their effectiveness is also super-duper subtle, what with the energy systems and all.

By: Laura Harden

Laura Harden — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:07:00 +0000

Thanks, I needed that.

By: Laura Harden

Laura Harden — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:06:00 +0000

Flower essences may be useless to you. I don’t find the Bach brand to be especially powerful. But I have tried other flower essences that have had very obvious effects on myself and others. Don’t knock it just because it’s not popular and you don’t understand it.
They are not meant to be medicine as we think of , they are much more subtle and affect the energy systems of the body. With the exception of Bleeding Heart Flower (Dicentra), which causes a very strong emotional reaction in many who have tried it.

By: Paul Coleman

Paul Coleman — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:57:00 +0000

This needs a full blown kitten unicorn chaser.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_IZ6yxOpbqDo/S3wvu7mEjOI/AAAAAAAAHrE/Qhx7G8B4gAc/s400/xmoonbloom+kitty+hat+1.jpg

By: TwilightNewsSite

TwilightNewsSite — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:56:00 +0000

I find it equally mind-blowing when I remember just how quickly medicine passed from the world of art/magic/tradition into the realm of science — and from there into the realm of commerce. Ka. Ching.

As for the “science” available at this point, I agree with Bones. Compared with what we should/
ought/need to know, we’re still in the Middle Ages.

By: Ian Wood

Ian Wood — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:48:00 +0000

I think that–for this particular condition, at any rate–we will eventually learn to simply not have flesh-eating bacteria. Perfectly easy to avoid, as they are very small and easily crushed.

By: Ernesto Ulises Román G.

Ernesto Ulises Román G. — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:47:00 +0000

It is my opinion that even nowadays medicine has not entered completely into the realm of science. Modern medical practice is still grounded in tradition and some treatments (chemotherapy, gastric bypasses, cortisone) are as gruesome as the one above. Furthermore millions of dollars are thrown away every year in useless treatments (homeopathy, Bach flowers, faith healing) certified only by quackery and recommended even by some “scientific” physicians. I’m not saying that medical advances are not important or that the medical science can be dismissed but that we still have horror medical stories and medical practice is still very unscientific.

By: ahecht

ahecht — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:42:00 +0000

Unicorn chaser?

By: Nicola Mary

Nicola Mary — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:40:00 +0000

Shiver me timbers!