Amputations at the London Hospital 1852

Abstract

Between 1852 and 1857 at the London Hospital, 142 amputations were performed in 136 patients. The most common indication was an injury sustained at work. Overall mortality was 46% and the death rate was especially high for lower-limb amputations. Most deaths were due to postoperative sepsis. Those who received chloroform anaesthesia did worse than those who received ether.

References

Woodall

In: John

Kirkup

, ed. The Surgeons Mate. Weston-super-Mare: Kingsmead Press, 1978

Shepherd

J.A.

‘The smart of the knife’–early anaesthesia in the services.

J R Army Med Corps 1985; 131: 109–15

Palmer

The East End–Four Centuries of London Life. London: Murray, 2000

Hibbert

London–The Biography of a City. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1980

Laffin

Combat Surgeons. Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1999

Guthrie

G.J.

A Treatise on Gun-shot Wounds, 3rd edn. London: Burgess & Hill, 1827

Guthrie

G.J.

Military surgery in the Crimea.

Lancet 1855; i: 413–17

Fischer

Report of 57 cases, of amputation near Sharpsburg, Maryland after the battle of Antietam.

Am J Med Sci 1863; (January): 44–51

The Times. October 12, 1854

10.

Velpeau

On the gravity and treatment of gunshot wounds.

Lancet 1848; ii: 3–4

11.

The Medical And Surgical History of the British Army during the War against Russia in the years 1854–1856, Vol 2. London: Harrison, 1858

12.

Report on Crimean Medical and Surgical Society.

Med Times Gazette 1856; 2: 225–8

Amputations at the London Hospital 1852–1857

Abstract

References