PART II 

 SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



SECTION I 

 PRELIMINARIES 



THE successful carrying out of an operative pro- 

 cedure depends partly on the skill of the oper- 

 ator and still more on the rigid adherence to the 

 rules of asepsis and antisepsis. To attain these es- 

 sentials, some means of restraining the patient's 

 movements must be provided for. There are numer- 

 ous and varied types of operating tables to be found 

 on the market, but for all practical purposes a per- 

 fectly efficient table may be devised at home. An 

 ordinary kitchen table, enameled white, makes a 

 thoroughly practicable and cheap substitute for the 

 high-priced tables sold by the surgical supply houses. 



The top of the table should l^e removed and fixed 

 on again with hinges at one end, to allow the top 

 to be tilted at any angle. At the other end of the 

 framework of the table a square frame is hinged, 

 the top of which butts against slats screwed on the 

 inferior surface of the table top. In this way vari- 

 ous angles of inclination may be obtained. 



On the table top are screwed four cleats, one 

 at each corner, to which to affix the hopples. The 

 hopples themselves may be made of tape, small- 

 sized cotton rope, or webbing. A loop is made in 

 one end of the hopples and a slipknot formed by 

 passing the other end through the loop. In secur- 

 ing the patient the slipknots are placed on each leg, 

 above the carpus or the tarsus, as the case may be, 

 the patient stretched out, and the ends of the hop- 



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