Fraipont calls attention ( Annales dela Société médico chirurgicale de Liége) to the value of tamponment of the uterine cavity by means of iodoform gauze in certain cases of severe uterine hæmorrhage. The gauze should be used in large pieces, supple and thin, and may be left in the cavity for one, two or three days; the cavity having been washed out with a carbolic acid or sublimate solution. Under its use, says Fraipont, there is no retention of secretions and no decomposition. If the gauze be well pushed in it serves as a filter to carry off the secretions, which are considerably diminished, and to deodorize and disinfect them. The pieces of gauze act as foreign bodies in the uterus, causing it to contract and arrest hæmorrhage.
To permit the introduction of the gauze the cervix must of course be dilated. Fraipont has made use of the gauze tampon after