Neuroscience
To celebrate the career of Shelby Foote, 88-year-old novelist and Civil War historian, who died last night, here's an abstract about head injuries during the Civil War:
Kaufman HH. Treatment of head injuries in the American Civil War. Journal of Neurosurgery. 1993 May; 78(5): 838-845.
Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown.
At the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865), a great deal was known about closed head injury and gunshot wounds to the head. Compression was differentiated from concussion, but localization of lesions was not precise. Ether and especially chloroform were used to provide anesthesia. Failure to understand how to prevent infection discouraged physicians from aggressive surgery. Manuals written to educate inexperienced doctors at the onset of the war provide an overview of the advice given by senior surgeons. The Union experiences in the treatment of head injury in the Civil War were discussed in the three surgical volumes of The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Wounds were divided into incised and puncture wounds, blunt injuries, and gunshot wounds, which were analyzed separately. Because the patients were not stratified by severity of injury and because there was no neuroimaging, it is difficult to understand the clinical problems and the effectiveness of surgery. Almost immediately after the war, increased knowledge about cerebral localization and the development of antisepsis (and then asepsis) permitted the development of modern neurosurgery.
Publication Types: Historical Article
PMID: 8468618 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain |
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Each year, Philadelphia magazine recognizes the area’s outstanding doctors in their Top Doctors issue. The list is viewed as a “gold standard for those seeking the finest medical care in the Philadelphia area.” We are pleased to announce that five...
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Neuroscience
Shelby Foote, Deceased
To celebrate the career of Shelby Foote, 88-year-old novelist and Civil War historian, who died last night, here's an abstract about head injuries during the Civil War:
Kaufman HH. Treatment of head injuries in the American Civil War. Journal of Neurosurgery. 1993 May; 78(5): 838-845.
Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown.
At the time of the American Civil War (1861-1865), a great deal was known about closed head injury and gunshot wounds to the head. Compression was differentiated from concussion, but localization of lesions was not precise. Ether and especially chloroform were used to provide anesthesia. Failure to understand how to prevent infection discouraged physicians from aggressive surgery. Manuals written to educate inexperienced doctors at the onset of the war provide an overview of the advice given by senior surgeons. The Union experiences in the treatment of head injury in the Civil War were discussed in the three surgical volumes of The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion. Wounds were divided into incised and puncture wounds, blunt injuries, and gunshot wounds, which were analyzed separately. Because the patients were not stratified by severity of injury and because there was no neuroimaging, it is difficult to understand the clinical problems and the effectiveness of surgery. Almost immediately after the war, increased knowledge about cerebral localization and the development of antisepsis (and then asepsis) permitted the development of modern neurosurgery.
Publication Types: Historical Article
PMID: 8468618 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
-
Anthony H. Risser | neuroscience | neuropsychology | brain |
- Obit: Thomas W. Langfitt, M.d.
From The Philadelphia Inquirer:Thomas Langfitt; led Pew Charitable Trusts By Gayle Ronan Sims Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Tue, Aug. 09, 2005 Thomas W. Langfitt, 78, who during his tenure as president of the Pew Charitable Trusts transformed...
- Brain Injury: Acute Management With Steroids
Research reported in the new issue of Lancet about steroid treatment in the acute management of brain injury is being reported in a number of newspapers. Here is the report in Newsday:Study: Steroids Useless for Head Trauma By EMMA ROSS ...
- Five Surgeons From Penn Neurosurgery Earn 'top Doc' Honors
Each year, Philadelphia magazine recognizes the area’s outstanding doctors in their Top Doctors issue. The list is viewed as a “gold standard for those seeking the finest medical care in the Philadelphia area.” We are pleased to announce that five...
- Five Surgeons From Penn Neurosurgery Earn 'top Doc' Honors
Each year, Philadelphia magazine recognizes the area’s outstanding doctors in their Top Doctors issue. The list is viewed as a “gold standard for those seeking the finest medical care in the Philadelphia area.” We are pleased to announce that five...
- Brain Injuries Still Mysterious, But Research Is Building
A recent story in the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that brain injury researchers are lifting the veil on brain injury and what they're seeing is already changing the response to brain injury in America, said Douglas Smith, MD, professor of neurosurgery,...