Gastrogalvanization

Negative pole within the stomach; small sponge electrode. Duration, eight minutes. First, two minutes below the ensiform process (during the first minute the current is gradually increased to its necessary strength), then for three minutes moving the electrode up and down the gastric region. After this, we then go to the back and remain one minute at the left side of the seventh dorsal vertebra, return to the front, move the electrode around the gastric region for one minute, and remain then quietly for one minute below the ensiform process. During this time the current is gradually weakened and the sitting is ended; the strength of the current is ordinarily fifteen to twenty milliamperes.

In withdrawing the electrode a resistance is felt at the introitus oesophagi; it is not advisable to pull the electrode with force. One has only to make the patient swallow once or twice, and to make use of the moment when the larynx, bv this act, ascends and the passage becomes free, to withdraw the electrode, which is done now with perfect ease. I ordinarily apply the electrization every other day during the beginning of treatment; afterward - i.e., after the lapse of two to three weeks - twice weekly for about three weeks, and thereafter once a week for some time. As a rule, I begin to decrease the frequency of the sittings when I notice a decided improvement in the condition of the patient. Even after a complete disappearance of the symptoms it is advisable to continue the electrization (once a week) for some time.

Direct electrization of the stomach by means of the deglutable electrode is very simple and handy for the patient and for the physician, and, as it seems to me. as easy to apply as percutaneous electrization. After the first application the insertion of the electrode is much easier, the patient being accustomed to the procedure.

The principal advantage of the deglutable electrode consists, firstly, in that we are able to apply the method in persons not used to the stomach tube, and, secondly, in that the thin cord does not cause any uncomfortable feeling to the patient during the entire electric sitting and does not provoke salivation. Another advantage lies in the circumstance that the deglutable electrode can be swallowed even in those cases in which ulcer of the stomach is suspected, whereas the old stomach electrode could not be introduced in them for fear of causing perforation.

By means of the deglutable electrode a regular course of electric treatment of the stomach becomes possible in many cases and is facilitated in all.