king in conjunction with the abdominal surgeon
should be able to render him invaluable assistance in his work on the
stomach. The surgeon with his gloved hand in the abdomen, by
manipulating suspected areas of the stomach in front of the tube-mouth
can receive immediately a report of its interior appearance, whether
cancerous, ulcerated, hemorrhagic, etc.

_Lens-system ballooning gastroscopy_ may possibly afford additional
information after all possible data from open-tube gastroscopy has
been obtained. Care must be exercised not to exert an injurious degree
of air-pressure. The distended portion of the stomach assumes a
funnel-like form ending at the apex in a depression with radiating
folds, that leads the observer to think he is looking at the pylorus.
The foreshortening produced by the lens system also contributes to
this illusion. The best lens-system gastroscope is that of Henry
Janeway, which combines the open-tube and the lens system.

_Gastroscopy for Foreign Bodies_.--The great majority of foreign
bodies that reach the stomach unassisted are passed per rectum,
provided the natural protective means are not impaired by the
administration of cathartics, changes in diet, etcetera. This,
however, does not mean that esophageal foreign bodies should be pushed
into the stomach by blind methods, or by esophagoscopy, because a
swallowed object lodged in the esophagus can always be returned
through the mouth. Foreign bodies in the stomach and intestines should
be fluoroscopically watched each second day. If an object is seen to
lodge five days in one location in the intestines, it should be
removed by laparotomy, since it will almost certainly perforate.
Certain objects reaching the stomach may be judged too large to pass
the pylorus and intestinal angles. These should be removed by
gastroscopy when such decision is made. It is to be remembered that
gastric foreign bodies may be regurgitated and may lodge in the
esophagus, whence they are easily removed by esophagoscopy. The
double-planed fluoroscope of Manges is helpful in the removal of
gastric foreign bodies, but there is great danger of injury to the
stomach walls, and even the peritoneum, unless forceps are used with
the utmost caution.

[277] CHAPTER XXXVI--ACUTE STENOSIS OF THE LARYNX

_Etiology_.--Causes of a relatively sudden narrowing of the lumen of
the larynx and subjacent trachea are included in the following list.
Two or more may be combined.
1.