Use of a Fork to Lift a Depressed Skull Fracture

By Alfred Jay Bollet, M.D.

On at least one occasion, Dr, Hunter Holmes McGuire, Stonewall Jackson's medical director and personal physician, attempted neuro-surgery in the field. A friend recorded:

"I have seen him break off one prong of a common table fork, bend the point of the other prong, and with it elevate the bone in a depressed fracture of the skull and save life."

(This describes an instrument not unlike some modern bone "elevators" that surgeons still use.)

Excerpted From: Civil War Medicine: Challenges and Triumphs

Posted in: Civil War Medical Instruments and Supplies,Civil War Surgery