Collier's New Encyclopedia

A complete general encyclopedia of 1921 — the world as it was understood just after the Great War, from Aachen to Zwingli, across twelve volumes and six thousand pages.

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Bloodless Surgery

the so-called bloodless surgery brought prominently before the public by the visit to this country of Dr. Adolf Lorenz of Vienna; in 1902, was used during the above trip in the treatment particularly of congenital dislocation of the hip, a condition in children which often leads to serious deformity. But Lorenz advocates the method for many other conditions. In an address before the New York Academy of medicine during his American tour the doctor mentioned the following conditions as amenable to his "modelling redressment" as he calls his manipulations: hip deformities, knee contractures, all deformities of the foot, and wry neck. The Lorenz method consists essentially of a tearing of muscles and ligaments, followed by replacement of the displaced bone. The usual or bloody method consists of a cutting of the tissues. As a matter of fact the bloodless surgery is often about as bloody as when the knife is used, the only difference being that the blood in the former case flows out among the tissues instead of BLOOD ROOT appearing on the surface through the knife wound. The Lorenz method is not without danger. It appears to be useful in certain cases, but the knife is preferred by the average surgeon and orthopedist in most cases.

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