HEMORRHAGE FROM THE BOWEL FOLLOWING APPENDECTOMY.

Abstract

The question of hemorrhage from the stump of the amputated appendix, treated by inversion and pursestring suture, was brought to the attention of the profession in 1904 by Dr. M. G. Seelig, 1 who quoted three cases of severe hemorrhage from the rectum following operation. In a paper read before the Chicago Medical Society Dr. William Hessert 2 reported three cases of postoperative hemorrhage from the stump, with a fatal issue in one instance. In the discussion that followed four cases of hemorrhage were reported, with one fatality. In Dr. John A. Wyeth's paper entitled the Technic of Appendectomy, read before the American Medical Association at the Fifty-eighth Annual Session, 3 a number of similar cases were reported, the purse-string method was considered unsafe and the ligature and the cauterization method was recommended. A careful perusal of the above articles shows that postoperative hemorrhage has been observed when the following