An enquiry into the statistics and pathology of some points connected with abscess in the liver as met with in the East Indies / by Edward John Waring.

  • Waring, Edward John, 1819-1891.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An enquiry into the statistics and pathology of some points connected with abscess in the liver as met with in the East Indies / by Edward John Waring. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    193/224 (page 179)
    The circumstance* which appear to have induced or hastened a fatal termination, may be ranged as follows:— The presence of other abscesses in liver besides the one opened 19 A combination with dysentery Gangrenous or sloughing condition of the abscess wallsO*) &c Abscess communicating with the lung, (iii,lviii) » „ with the colon, (lix) >> „ with the pericardium, (lxxx) Two other abscesses opening spontaneously,, (lxxix) Another abscess bursting into the abdominal cavity subse-) quent to the operation, (xxii) ... ... ... J Impervious state of the hepatic ducts, delirium, (lxv) Escape of matter through the puncture into the abdominal) cavity, causing excessive inflammation, (xix, lxxviii) ... J Abscess making its way by ulcerative absorption through) the coats of the stomach, (xlv) ... ... ...p Haemorrhage into the sac of the abscess, (xlix) ... Death was preceded by great exhaustion, in ,, „ hectic fever, cold sweats, &c..in „ „ diarrhoea, (colliquative) in ,, „ delirium, in ,, „ convulsions, in The patients gradually sank, or the symptoms progressed) 17 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 o 1 J. 51 unchecked, in 6 5 4 2 1 6 In none of the fifteen cases of recovery does the hepatic affec- tion appear to have been combined with dysentery;: in some, this is distinctly stated ; in others, it is an inference drawn from the history of the case, the bowels being reported as regular, torpid, and the stools feculent, &c. The instrument employed,. is specified in 58 instances. It should be observed before proceeding further,, that when in the history of a case, it is stated that the abscess was “ opened by incision,” or words to that effect, it has been assumed that the instrument employed was a lancet, or scalpel, or some cutting instrument, in contradistinction to the trocar,&c~ Thus we find that the trocar only, was used in 23 cases the exploratory needle first, and sub- sequently the trocar in 19, and the lancet or scalpel in 16 cases. The following short table shows the ratio of mortality with refe- rence to the instrument employed. (a) viii, xviii, xlviii, Ixx.