THE NEW SURGERY.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2711, 15 January 1910, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE NEW SURGERY.

MEDICAL OPINION ON THE USE OF STOVAINE.

•HAS COME TO STAY.”

The extent to which the new stova-ine-strychnia' injection method of numbing pain during an operation can take the place of general anaesthesia by ether or chloroform has been the chief topic of medical interest among the profession in London since the neAV method Avas first demonstrated by its inventor, Professor Jonnesco, of Bucharest at the Seamen’s Hospital at GreenAvicli recently, -writes the “Daily Mail.” As Avas stated in; a recent issue of that journal, the method consists of numbing all sensations of pain during the operation by previously injecting a solution of stovaine and strychnia into the spinal canal. No general anaesthetic (ether or chloroform) is-used, the patient being perfectly conscious throughout the operation. PROF. JONESCO ON HIS DISCOVERY.

“I did not invent stovaine,” said Professor Thomas Jonnesco, “but. I ha\ r e discovered the miraculous powers of strychnia added to stoA'aine as an absolutely efficient anaesthetic.”. “Professor Jonnesco” (writes a correspondent) “shoAved me a number of photographs of patients going through the most terrible surgical operations, men and AA’omen of all ages, and all these patients Avere —smiling. “Here Avas a series of photographs of a pretty hoy of eight, whose brains had to be explored. All of these photographs the boy could be seen smiling, not with )ffi<e morbid opiunxreated grin of certain tortured Chinamen, but Avitli the bright healthy smile of a happy youth. “This lad,” the Professor commented, Gvas talking -to me all the time while I operated on him. As you see, his eyes are bandaged, and he kneAV so little that I was ‘busy’ upon his brain that he kept asking me Avhen I Avon Id begin tho operation, for he Avas anxious to receive the "silver coin which I had promised to give him afterwards.’ Professor Jonnesco used only sto\aine from 1904 till July, 1908, and this in' 603 cases. It Avas at the latter date that he discovered the superior properties of a combination of strychnia and stovaine as a perfect anaesthetic. During the last sixteen months he has used it 758 times on men and women of every age, and always successfully. The amount of stovaine and strychnia in the anaesthetic mixture A’arie-s, of course, Avith the site of the injection, the patient’s age, and his or her general condition.

, “It has come to stay,” added Proffessor Jonnesco. “In many European countries its marvellous properties are fully recognised, and I am glad that during my short stay in. London, so conservative in everything, I have succeeded in convincing many of the leading medical and scientifiic authorities.' The possibilities of the new anaesthetic are boundless—.obviously.” OPINION DIVIDED. At several of the London hospitals this week, writes—a medical correspondent, opinipn was divided as to the advantages of the new method. A specialist in anaesthetics attached to one <>f the great hospitals stated: “Stovaine-strychnia spinal anaesthesia has come to stay, for, in a limited number of cases, it holds out certain great advantages over general anaesthesia (by .chloroform,or ether, etc.). “In abdominal operations, where a diseased heart 'or bronchitis renders deep ether anaesthesia inadvisable, the rigidity and - lack of softness of thd abdominal .muscles often greatly interfere with the operator. At the same time.the troubled breathing of a heart or lung case under ether keeps the abdominal organs in a constant state of motion, rendering the Operation unnecessarily difficult. “Stovaine-strychnia anaesthesia gives perfect flaccidity of the abdominal muscles and does not interfere in the least with the heart or breathing rate. For use in such cases I shall perfect myself in the technique of Professor Jonnesco’s method.” The surgeon-in-chiof at a private hospital in the West End doubted whether stovaine could ever replace general anaesthetics. “Nervous and high-strung patients who. have to undergo dangerous operations would probably suffer a much greater shock if they were conscious (though not in .pain) during th© operation than if they had been rendered unconscious by ether at the start. Ido not think a patient of nervous temperament would care to note the time th© surgeon, is taking or th© numberless details about an operation -which are always upsetting to a layman.”