m which protruded eight inches of
colon, all of the stomach, and nearly the whole of the small
intestines. About 2 1/2 feet of the small intestine, having a whitish
color, appeared to be filled with food and had much of the
characteristic feeling of a sausage. The rest of the small intestine
had a dark-brown color, and the stomach and colon, distended with gas,
were leaden-colored. The viscera had been exposed to the atmosphere for
over an hour. Having nothing but cold Mississippi water to wash them
with, Barnes preferred returning the intestines without any attempt at
removing blood and dirt further than wiping with a cambric handkerchief
and the stripping they would naturally be subjected to in being
returned through the opening. In ten minutes they were returned; they
were carefully examined inch by inch for any wound, but none was found.
Three silver sutures were passed through the skin, and a firm compress
applied. The patient went to sleep shortly after his wound was dressed,
and never had a single subsequent bad symptom; he was discharged on May
24th, the wound being entirely healed, with the exception of a
cartilage of a rib which had not reunited.

Rogers mentions the case of a carpenter of thirty-six who was struck by
a missile thrown by a circular saw, making a wound two inches above the
umbilicus and to the left. Through the opening a mass of intestines and
a portion of the liver, attached by a pedicle, protruded. A portion of
the liver was detached, and the liver, as well as the intestines, were
replaced, and the man recovered.

Baillie, Bhadoory, Barker, Edmundson, Johnson, and others, record
instances of abdominal wounds accompanied by extensive protrusion of
the intestines, and recovery. Shah mentions an abdominal wound with
protrusion of three feet of small intestine. By treatment with ice,
phenol, and opium, recovery was effected without peritonitis.

Among nonfatal perforating gunshot wounds of the abdomen, Loring:
reports the case of a private in the First Artillery who recovered
after a double gunshot perforation of the abdomen. One of the balls
entered 5 1/2 inches to the left of the umbilicus, and two inches above
the crest of the ilium, making its exit two inches above the crest of
the ilium, on a line with and two inches from the 4th lumbar vertebra.
The other ball entered four inches below and to the rear of the left
nipple, making its exit four inches directly below the point of
entrance.