Anatomico-chirurgical observations on dislocations of the astragalus / by Thomas Turner.

  • Turner, Thomas, (1793-1873)
Date:
1843
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Anatomico-chirurgical observations on dislocations of the astragalus / by Thomas Turner. 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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    others which happen to the human body, (Dupuytreu never having, in his extensive practice, met with more than twelve cases,) it may appear to many that the author’s time might have been more profita- bly employed, and his labour more fruitfully bestowed, in bringing before the profession a subject of more general interest, and of greater practical utility. But, in looking over the list of surgical accidents, there is not one more serious in its characters and in its consequences than disloca- tion of the astragalus; and there is not one in which we are so destitute of rules, to guide us in our practical proceedings. The author is not alone in this opinion; as the fact was confirmed by the remarks made by the distinguished President of the Association, and by many of its members, when they did him the honour to listen to his lecture. On examining the manner in which the astraga- lus is connected with the tibia, fibula, os naviculare, and calcaneum, it appears almost impossible to conceive otherwise, than that dislocation of this bone alone, ?. e., without displacement of the other bones of the foot, or fracture of one or both malleo- lar processes, is as impossible as luxation of the ribs ; and that to speak of its occurrence was to imagine, rather than to realize the fact, which was, we have reason to believe, the case with the ancients who wrote on dislocations of the ribs : but, although luxation of the astragalus alone is, comparatively speaking, an uncommon accident, yet we know that it does occur; therefore we shall, at all events, escape, in commenting upon it, the animadversions passed on the older surgeons, for writing elaborately