UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES IS IT ADVISABLE TO REMOVE THE VERMIFORM APPENDIX WHEN THE ABDOMEN IS OPENED FOR OTHER REASONS

The importance of the vermiform appendix as a possible cause of complication in gynecologic pelvic surgery was suddenly and sharply brought to my attention some time since by the case of a patient who came under my care in December, 1894, suffering from general pelvic discomfort and painful menstruation. I made a median abdominal incision and found the uterus retroflexed, the ovaries adherent and the vaginal outlet relaxed. The uterus was suspended, the varicose ovarian veins ligated and the vaginal outlet repaired. The patient was little if at all improved by my treatment, to our mutual disappointment. After leaving my care she went to live in Pennsylvania, and some months later I had a letter from her, informing me that she had had an attack of appendicitis, for which she had been operated on by my old friend Dr. John Deaver. The result of the operation was a complete relief