924 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
ular haemorrhage cannot be prevented as easily as infection. The 
decrease in intraocular pressure is usually the cause of such 
haemorrhage; and, it is impossible to determine when the eye is 
predisposed to such haemorrhage ; therefore such an accident is 
unavoidable. 
Operation .—The instruments required for iridectomy are : 
A triangular shaped lance; a curved iris-forceps ; a pair of 
curved iris-scissors ; a metal grooved spatula or director; and a 
blunt hook. 
The patient should be properly secured, and a general anaes¬ 
thetic administered. The incision through the cornea is made 
at the upper margin as near to the sclera as possible. Care 
must be taken not to injure the iris unnecessarily. By remov¬ 
ing the lance the aqueous humor is allowed to escape from the 
anterior and posterior chambers. The iris is then drawn through 
the corneal wound with the hook or iris-forceps, and clipped as 
desired, with the curved iris-scissors. The iris must be drawn 
out by gentle traction in order not to rupture the arterial circle 
of the iris. The iris must be cut in such a manner that no part 
of the remaining portion will interfere with the healing process 
or cause adhesions. It can be pushed out of the corneal wound 
by the use of the spatula and sometimes it is necessary to put 
it into proper position in the chamber with the spatula and 
hook or probe. 
After-care. —If the operation was performed with aseptic 
precautions, no irregularities will follow. The eye should be 
dressed with gauze, saturated in a mild antiseptic solution, and a 
pad of absorbent cotton placed over it. The patient should be 
placed in a dark stall, and the eye dressed every twenty-four 
hours for the first seven or eight days. 
Note. —The word “ introtechnics ” on page 833, Jan. num¬ 
ber of Review, should be intratechnics. 
SURGICAL ITEMS. 
The Re-union of Nerves in Neurotomy .—The surgical divis¬ 
ion of a nerve trunk is frequently followed by the formation of 
a tumor at the proximal end, manifested in the shape of a pain¬ 
ful cicatrix which produces a lameness even more intense than 
the original lameness. As the resection of such tumors will 
again cure the lameness, surgeons usually conclude that the 
severed nerve trunk had re-united. Such a conclusion is wrong, 
as nerves do not re-unite. If a nerve were experimentally 
divided under the strictest aseptic precautions and the cut ends 
