Fig. 196.—Spencer Wells’ forceps.
The bladder should be emptied by the catheter immediately before the patient is placed upon the operating-table.
The patient should be placed upon the operating-table by clean nurses or assistants.
The legs should be strapped to the table. The hands should be held out of the way by the anesthetizer. They may be retained very well by a safety-pin passed through the lower sleeve and the shoulder of the night-gown or the pillow-case.
The undershirt and night-gown should be drawn well up behind, to prevent wetting. If the clothes become wet, they should be changed immediately after operation.
The legs and the chest should be covered with clean blankets. The field of operation should be surrounded by sterilized towels. One large towel with a hole of suitable size in the center is convenient. A pocket may be made immediately below the hole, to retain the instruments when the Trendelenburg position is employed.
Fig. 197.—Knife.
Instruments.—The number and the variety of instruments used by the gynecologist in abdominal operations depend a good deal upon the taste of the individual operator. The list given here comprises all the instruments that are found useful by the writer in abdominal work: