Cheatham Michael L
Surgical Intensive Care Units, Orlando Regional Medical Center, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Am Surg. 2008 Aug;74(8):770-4.
The controversy surrounding the death of George Washington was immediate, intense, and continues today. After a horse ride in sleet and snow, Washington developed fulminant acute epiglottitis that rapidly claimed his life within 24 hours. In treatment, he endured phlebotomy of over 2500 mL as well as various other painful therapies that were the standard practice of the day. Over the years, numerous criticisms have been lodged against the care his three physicians rendered. Although the marked bloodletting has been most heavily scrutinized, others have argued that Washington could have survived had a tracheostomy been performed. Delayed presentation, prolonged Class IV hemorrhagic shock, acute respiratory failure, and probable septic shock in a 67 year old with preexisting medical comorbidities has a high mortality rate today and would have been irreversible in 1799. George Washington's inevitable death was assured by his own initial actions compounded by the treatments initiated by his physicians.
围绕乔治·华盛顿之死的争议即刻爆发，愈演愈烈，至今仍在持续。在一场雨雪交加的骑马出行后，华盛顿患上了暴发性急性会厌炎，并在24小时内迅速夺去了他的生命。在治疗过程中，他忍受了超过2500毫升的放血以及当时标准治疗流程中的各种其他痛苦疗法。多年来，人们对他的三位医生所提供的治疗提出了诸多批评。尽管大量放血受到了最严厉的审视，但也有人认为，如果当时进行了气管切开术，华盛顿或许能够存活下来。对于一名患有基础疾病的67岁老人来说，就诊延迟、长时间的IV级失血性休克、急性呼吸衰竭以及可能的感染性休克，在如今死亡率很高，在1799年更是不可逆转。乔治·华盛顿自身的初始行为，再加上他的医生所采取的治疗措施，注定了他不可避免的死亡。
