Report of a committee of the associate medical members of the Sanitary Commission, on the subject of amputations through the foot, and at the ankle-joint.

  • United States Sanitary Commission.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of a committee of the associate medical members of the Sanitary Commission, on the subject of amputations through the foot, and at the ankle-joint. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    REPOKT. It is proposed in tliis paper to consider briefly those opera- tions in the region of the foot which are generally regarded as conservative. They are all nndertahen with a view either to preserve the largest extent of the extremity possible for subse- quent unaided service, or to adapt a stump that affords the best medium for-mechanical appliances. PRESERVATION OF INDIVIDUAL TOES. It is always desirable to preserve as many of the phalanges as possible. If the injury is of such a nature as to require the sacrifice of all but one toe, this should be preserved. The sup- port which is given to the foot in' the mechanism of progression, by even the small toe alone, is sufficient to warrant its preser- vation. Especially is it important to save the great toe, which forms so considerable a part of the foot. AMPUTATION OF THE I^IETATARSO-PHALANGEAL ARTICULATION. When the injury requires the sacrifice of all the toes, the surgeon should, if the soft parts permit, remove them at their articulation with the metacarpal bones. The resulting extre- mity will be extremely serviceable 'without artificial aid. Ojperation.—1st. The operator, grasping all the toes in his left hand, makes, with a narrow knife, a semi-circular incision, extending (for the left foot, and vice versa) from the internal border of the first metatarsal bone, to the external border of the