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THE

ORTHOPEDIC TREATMENT

OF

GUNSHOT INJURIES

BY

LEO MAYER, A. M., M. D.
Instructor in Orthopedic Surgery

New York Postgraduate Medical School and Hospital

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

COL. E. G. BRACKETT, M. C. N. A.
Director of Military Orthopedic Surgery

ILLUSTRATED

LANE LIBRARY

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON

W. B. SAUNDERS COMPANY

1918

Copyright, 1918, by W. B. Saunders Company

PRINTED IN AMERICA

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INTRODUCTION

It is a satisfaction to give a welcome to a book that comes to us at a time when it is definitely needed. We are having to decide problems in surgery, which are either new, or which present such new phases, that we must re-adjust ourselves in the methods of their reception and treatment. Dr. Mayer, in his presentation of the subject in this book, has led to these important questions, and has given the results of a practical experience with many of the new problems which have come to us in the last three years of military life. It has been definitely demonstrated that early radical methods are frequently necessary for ultimate conservative results, and for the final completion of full function, and that continued treatment given as early as possible, and in many instances that the early application of correct mechanical principles, are necessary, if we are to have in mind the complete rehabilitation of the injured man. The importance of the restoration of the disabled individual back into his working life is now having its proper recognition, under the stimulus of war conditions, although we must remember that this problem is not new, for it has had, for some time, the attention of a few men, who had recognized its importance and have done much toward establishing this feature in industrial surgery. The need of surgeons who have a knowledge of these correct principles and of the mechanical supplements to surgery, is emphasized in this work of Dr. Mayer.

Dr. Mayer has called attention to the need of planning the treatment of long surgical cases so that the patient can be restored finally to his full function, and has also emphasized that this includes not only the restoration of his physical and mental condition, but also the restoration of the individual himself back to the position which places him in a wageearning status. This is particularly applicable at the present

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