PLUGGING WITH SOFT TISSUE TO ARREST HEMORRHAGE FROM BONE.

Abstract

Hemorrhage from the cut or broken edges of bone is often a great annoyance, if not a serious condition, during surgical operations—amputations, resection and curettage—on the skull or other bones, especially when the bone is congested. The control of such hemorrhage is sometimes a difficult matter, as one can not ligate the bleeding vessels and pressure often fails. Mashing or crushing the edges of the bone is objectionable, if not impossible, and often fails to accomplish the desired result. I have never been able to use with any satisfaction Horsley's antiseptic wax because it will not stick to a wet bone—one that is bleeding—and it is not needed on any other kind. For four or five years I have been using the soft tissues—muscle or fascia—rubbed into the cut or broken surface of the bone. A fragment, preferably of muscle, is cut off wherever most convenient in the field of