Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 3. (Budapest, 1956)

J. BALOGH, M. D.: The hungarian traumatic surgery in the first part of the 19th century

Nelaton, the renowned surgeon, removed a projectile from the leg of Garibaldi, by means of ,,electric magnetism". Knowing of this, József Kovács, Assistant Professor, constructed an apparatus called a ,,projectile tracer with electric bell". The apparatus was essentially an electric bell provided with a projecticle forceps. When the forceps caught a metallic object, the bell rang. (O. H., 37, 643. 1866). Reports have appeared on tetanus, too. Horváth György, a student of surgery, described the case of a seaman whose left index finger was damaged by a piece of iron. Twentythree days later the patient became febrile and developed a grave tetanus. Opium by mouth did not help: morphine was then injected several times a day and the patient was discharged at 47 days, after making a complete recovery. The first report on abdominal injury was published on page 121. No. 2., 1831 of O. T. The night watchmen brought into the Rókus hospital a butcher, who had been stabbed in the abdomen. The mesenterium was prolapsed. A military surgeon, who was present, urged that laparatomy be done, but Leopold Windisch, director of the hospital refused to consent to this claiming that it was highly dangerous and uncertain in outcome. The then current attitude in cases of abdominal injury was one of expectative nature, since several centuries of practice have shown that the subsequent reactive inflammation could not be fought off by the administration of the antiphlogistic diet and the various emollient drugs. Both physician and patient trusted the life force to effect the cure. Also Réczey mentioned in his book that abdominal operations were invariably followed by a series of grave complications, which were due to the entering of air into the abdominal cavity and to the opening of abdominal organs. In O. H. a report has appeared by Hamary, a G. P. in Cserno kocso, of the case of a hired hand, who suffered intestinal prolapse after having been attacked by a bull. Hamary cleaned the prolapsed intestine, reduced it carefully with oiled fingers, excised the wound margins and sutured the wound. The patient recovered. This report clearly shows that the former, more