The abdominal aorta has been tied five times in the human subject, but unfortunately in every case without success. Sir A. Cooper was led, by a number of experiments* which he performed on dogs, and by a consideration of the various cases on record, in which the aorta had been found obliterated after death, to believe in the possibility of tying this vessel, in the human subject, with safety and advantage. It is true that in every instance in which it was found impervious in the human subject, the effect was produced slowly, and the anastomosing branches were gradually prepared for the additional duty they were to perform; yet it does not appear, either from experiments on brutes, from which, however, conclusions should be drawn with great caution, or from the results of the cases in which it has been tied in man, that the operations must fail, either on account of the immediate shock given to the system, or of the diminished supply of blood sent to both the lower extremities Sir A. Cooper says he has ascertained that if the aortic plexus be tied with the artery, the lower extremities are rendered paralytic and the animal dies; but these consequences do not occur if the plexus be not included in the ligature.

Ligature Of The Aorta