I have been looking into the death of Private William Anderson Laws, Co. F, 23rd North Carolina Infantry in the Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion (MSHWR). Private Laws was wounded at Fox’s Gap on 14 September 1862, treated in Middletown, and then at an Army hospital in Frederick. He died there, apparently from a reaction to chloroform during prep for surgery on 28 October.
A few pages later in the MSHWR, though, I found this fascinating plate of surgical instruments used in resection. I had to share.
Does anyone know what the massive, complicated instrument on the left was for? Truly frightening!
Follow-up:
First performed in the 1560’s, a symphysiotomy/pelviotomy was a (now outdated) surgical procedure in which the cartilage of the pubic symphysis was divided to widen a woman’s pelvis to allow childbirth when there was a mechanical problem. Less frequent in the late 20th century after the risk of maternal death from caesarean section decreased.
In 1785 the precursor to that tool above was invented for such procedures: the serrated link osteotome.
In 1830 surgeon Bernhard Heine (1800–1846) developed his continuous chain osteotome – seen above.
Heine’s design, similar to the modern chainsaw, cut through bone quickly, without the patient enduring blows from a hammer and chisel or jarring from a regular amputation saw—an important advancement at a time when anesthesia was rarely employed. Surgeons could perform resections and even craniotomies without leaving bone splinters or damaging surrounding tissue.
The first patent for an “endless chain saw” for cutting redwood trees was issued to Samuel J. Bens in 1905, an invention building on Heine’s osteome technology.
The quote above is from Alan J Hawk’s ArtiFacts: Bernhard Heine’s Osteotome in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research of 4 January 2016.
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