A contribution to the treatment of white swelling of the knee : read before the American Orthopedic Association, St. Louis, Mo., September, 1893 / by A.B. Judson.

  • Judson, Adoniram Brown, 1837-1916.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A contribution to the treatment of white swelling of the knee : read before the American Orthopedic Association, St. Louis, Mo., September, 1893 / by A.B. Judson. 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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    0/ '\4\ bl 12 JU'i 'a4: A CONTRIBUTION TO ''^HX-^&'ATMENT OF WHITE SWELLING THE KNEE. White swelling of the knee belongs to a class of diseases which it is difficult to believe are not con- stitutional, and yet which are so modified in their progress and results by the influence of mechanical environment that, beyond the regulation of the diet, the administration of roborants and the observance of the laws of hygiene, the only treatment necessary is that which is carried on by mechanical appliances. Not that treatment of this kind can abruptly arrest the disease and remove the traces which it almost always leaves in the structures which have been affected. It will be a happy day when the advance of our science puts us in possession of the power to cut short this morbid action, and secure ultimate symmetry and normal ability. Until that day we may well give our best attention to methods of placing the affected member and the system in the best position to promote and take advantage of the inevitable rally of the defensive and reconstructive sources of nature. For restora- tion to health and more or less complete function are certain to occur, except in most unfortunate exceptional circumstances. Speaking of hip disease Brodie exclaimed : “Why should the disease be dangerous? The hip-joint is not a vital organ!’” And this is not the less true of white swelling of the knee. And in the case of chil- dren, among whom our patients are chiefly found, we have especial reason to expect, amid the countless