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[Read in the Section on Obstetrics and Gynæcology of the American Medical Association, May, 1884.]
Mr. President and Gentlemen:
By desperate surgery I mean operations that endanger the life of the patient.
As they relate to women, such operations are largely intra-abdominal.
That the opening of the cavity of the peritonæum is desperately dangerous, will be denied alone by persons ignorant of American statistics tabulating the results of this kind of surgical interference.
That this subject is worthy of intelligent and intense investigation, is claimed by all who honor the profession of medicine, desire to ameliorate the condition of suffering humanity, and wish to prolong life.
The presentation of a tabulated statement of the intra-abdominal surgical operations performed more or less frequently, will serve to bring the subject clearly before our minds. These are:
1, Normal ovariotomy, Battey's operation.
2, Removal of the ovaries and tubes, Hegar-Tait operation.
3, Ovariotomy