SERUM THERAPY 99 



solution. The wound ought to be widely opened 

 by free incision, if necessary, to thoroughly 

 cleanse the wound and for the removal of for- 

 eign substances. Under certain circumstances, 

 excision of the wound is to be advised. Foreign 

 material may be removed with sterile forceps. 

 Friedrich recommends total excision of the 

 focus and foreign body. Ashhurst recommends 

 that the wound be irrigated with hot peroxide 

 of hydrogen, swabbed out with 3 per cent al- 

 coholic solution of iodine, and loosely packed 

 with gauze soaked in the same solution. 



TREATMENT 



It is unfortunate that many physicians have 

 never seen a case of tetanus, and it is also un- 

 fortunate that physicians of wide experience are 

 too often inclined to delay the treatment of a 

 suspected case until they are positive of the 

 diagnosis. Such delay has caused many lives to 

 be lost, which otherwise might have been saved 

 by an earlier use of Tetanus Antitoxin. The 

 treatment of tetanus has two distinct purposes : 



(1) the neutralization of the tetanus toxin, and 



(2) the sustaining of the patient and the al- 

 leviation of the symptoms until the effects of 

 the specific poison subside. 



