Abstract
GASTROSCOPY was first attempted by Kussmaul in 1868, the subject of the experiment having been a professional sword swallower. A rigid instrument was used, the lighting was indirect, and no view of the stomach was obtained. Mickulicz, about 1881, again attempted gastroscopy with a rigid instrument, but the results were unsatisfactory. Since 1900 gastroscopy with rigid instruments has been practised in a few clinics, principally in Germany, but most physicians have felt that for diagnostic purposes the results obtained did not justify the difficulties and dangers encountered in passing the instrument. The invention of the Wolf-Schindler flexible gastroscope (1) has made possible the frequent and general use of gastroscopy in diagnosis. The flexibility of this new instrument, invented by Dr. Schindler in 1932, has made the procedure relatively easy and safe. In a series of 400 gastroscopies performed at the Massachusetts General Hospital since 1933, I have had only one complication. This occurred in one of ...
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