| Reference Number | RBC/130 |
| Title | Letter from Henry Smith to Richard Butcher |
| Date | 25 September 1856 |
| Creator Name | Smith, Henry, 1823-1894 |
| Butcher, Richard George Herbert, 1819-1891 |
| Description | Manuscript letter from Henry Smith to Richard Butcher expressing Smith's thanks for Butcher's 'kindness to my friend Assistant Surgeon Jessop' during his visit to Dublin. Smith tells Butcher he is 'glad to find you are bringing out a new edition of your pamphlet on excision of the knee joint'. Smith provides Butcher with details of the number of cases undertaken in London in recent years, and the compares the mortality rate of 1 in 6 to another operation that had a mortality rate of 1 in 3.5. He comments on the continued resistance to excision in some quarters of the profession and recommends Butcher to include 'remarks on the cases of failure and death', which Smith believes are down to poor management and bad instruments. |
| Extent | 4 pages |
| Term | Knee Joint -- surgery |
| General Surgery -- trends |
| Fatal Outcome |
| Letter |
| Related Record | RBC/114 |