Surgery: A Rupture & a Polyp

An incisional hernia such as the one from which President Johnson is now suffering is a rupture (Latin: hernia) or break in the muscular abdominal wallIn the President's case, the break came about an inch to the right of the scar where the surgeons cut last year to remove his gall bladder. It is at the point where plastic drain tubes were left in place for four days after that operation. Such hernias are by no means rare but no one knows exactly how common they are.

Delicate Dissection. One surgery textbook argues...

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