Anaesthesia in war surgery

Abstract

For the past fifteen months, I have been attached to the Third Australian General Hospital as Anaesthetist, and now record my experiences gleaned from somewhere over a thousand cases of anaesthesia in war surgery. I may conveniently divide up the time in question into three equal periods of four months each. During the transfer of the hospital from England to France, and its subsequent establishment as a base hospital on the lines of communication, no surgery was possible for a period of about three months. During my first four months with this unit we existed as a General Hospital at Brighton in England, where practically all our patients arrived from the Base Hospitals in France. From the end of July to the end of November, 1917, I was attached to a Casualty Clearing Station in Flanders, where I gave anaesthetics for one of our own hospital surgeons, working together as "a team" all through the Flanders offensive. There remains a period of four months during which I have either been giving anaesthetics or instructing others in their use, at our Base. Although it is not my intention to quote figures extensively, it may be of interest to give the number of anaesthetics given by me in those three periods. I find at Brighton I gave just under 300 anaesthetics. At the Casualty Clearing Station (c.c.s.) exactly 660. At the Base Hospital upwards of 150, so that my experience of war anaesthesia is derived from a variety of operations in 1100 cases. In considering the experience gained by those anaesthetics, I think my object will be best attained by considering.- 1. The type of Patient. 2. The type of Anaesthetic given. 3. The type of wound and operation for which the anaesthetic was required.