Show 0 f 1 in hv i cin villy article tirl icle ii based on oil medical studies of 0 the effectiveness ol of lir ho Eliv 1 ibell meritty treatment lor for infantile jantile iri paralysis back sis astr N X enny IN theory sister elizabeth ennys demonstration of her treatment or infantile paralysis paral at minneapolis general hospital aroused the interest interest of the medical profession and resulted in a five year study of her theories the result of these studies and clinical observations by six eminent medical men is told in a report made in the august issue of the journal lancet a national medical tion alon by dr john F pohl attend ing orthopedic surgeon at minneapolis general hospital and t the he michael dowling school for cr crippled lp children in minneapolis and now medical supervisor at the eliz abeth kenny institute dr pohl was one of the six men who conducted the five year studies in operation cooperation co with the university of minnesota medical school other research was conducted by orthopedists at the world famed mayo clinic at rochester minnesota and by the rochester chester Bo new york university studied cases the dr pohl report is based on the most comprehensive study to date of miss dennys revo revolutionary lutlo ary treatment and the results of that treatment I 1 in the journal lancet dr pohl points out that his evaluation of the reany kenny concept and treatment Is based upon a study of patients suffering from infantile paralysis in the acute stage who were ad admitted mitt e a and treated trea te d at elizabeth kenny clinic during the years 1940 through 1944 1044 of the patients survive gur vive upon completion of the treatment 16 per cent of the patients have extensive residual paralysis of ope one or more extremities but 84 per cent may be considered to have good recovery from the standpoint of muscle strength and ability to move the limbs dr pohl fohl wrote he explains in his article that the cases studied were not mild ones but were of average severity in comparison with previous experience in the same hospital minneapolis general remarkably successful A patient may be a sue success cess from the standpoint of retaining good muscle power but the same patient definitely represents a failure of treatment it if he suffers permanent crippling deformities in spite of lils his good muscle strength as was too frequently the case under orthodox management of the disease on this basis the kenny treatment proves to be remarkably successful cess ful as per cent of the patients in this series appeared to have an assured further existence ex free of cumbersome braces grotesque deformities and awkward methods of locomotion the other 45 per cent 13 15 patients are by no means helpless or even necessarily crippled but are considered as having retained muscle weakness to such an extent as to prevent them from being fully independent none have gross d deformities e for only 23 per cent or eight of the entire group of wear braces crutches are used by only 34 per cent of the patients and 28 per cent use one cane for the most part dr pohl adds the crutches are employed as a means of continuing to teach the patients good motor habits rather than as a means of support crutches are later displaced by a single cane in mos t patients or eire are discarded entirely gross deformities have been eliminated in all cases surgery unnecessary none of the patients has required argery ingery to date and no indication has arisen in ili which surgery might 10 0 U V sister renny given degree by president robert clothier of rutgers university materially improve the condition of any of the patients none of the patients including the severely involved have entered orthopedic hospitals rest homes or institutions for the care of the crippled and chronically disabled PoIn fing out that orthopedic hospitals and schools for crippled children give an overall picture of the infantile paralysis situation in any community dr pohl presents figures in the journal lancet article to show the effect affect of the kenny treatment on the number of admissions to the michael dowling school for crippled children minneapolis during the years 1937 1938 and 1939 prior to the time miss Kenny began her work and in 1940 1040 through 1944 from 1937 through 1939 dr pohl said minneapolis school children 14 years of age or under were afflicted with the disease and 57 or 32 per pei cent of them eventually were enrolled ollea in dowling school 45 or 80 per cent of those admitted had gross deformities 15 or 28 26 per cent of those admitted were required to wear braces and 12 or 21 per cent of those admitted have hid had surgical opera from 1940 1040 through 1044 1944 the kenny period minneapolis children 14 years of age or under were af the disease and placed under the management of the kenny treatment none deformed none of the dr pohl reports had to in be enrolled in dowling school none had a deformity none had to wear a brace and none had to have surgical operations dr don henderson head of the orthopedic department of the mayo clinic in a letter to miss kenny commented m anted on her concept of the disease and her treatment of it and said 1 I am fully convinced that your method offers the infantile paralysis patient more hope tor for complete recovery than any other method or treatment today at rochester university the acid test of science was applied to miss dennys theory that spasm does exist by use of delicate electrical instruments university scientists proved miss dennys theory and as a result that institution conferred upon the australian nurse the degree of doctor of humane letters in recognition of her findings new york university also conferred an honorary degree upon miss kenny |