A Case of Accidental Abdominal Injury

On 4th April, 1925, at 3 p.m. I was called up to see a woman, aged 55, with an abdominal injury caused by the horn of a bullock; the accident had occurred in the early morning. I reached the place in the evening at 6 p.m. and found the woman in good condition (pulse and temperature normal). I found that the intestines had come out through the crescentic tear and were wrapped in a piece of dirty cloth. I wanted to stitch the wound under general anaesthesia but the woman declined, saying that she wouldn't trouble me at all even if I did it without anaesthesia. After removing the cloth I found nearly 9 or 10 feet of the gut out through the wound which was 2^ inches in length. Fortunately the gut was not at all injured. I washed the gut with warm saline and having thoroughly cleansed it pushed the gut in and stitched the wound. Afterwards I gave 3 drachms of brandy. After the operation for 24 hours or