An essay upon the original or congenital luxations of the upper extremity of the humerus / by Robert William Smith.

  • Smith, Robert William, 1807-1873.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay upon the original or congenital luxations of the upper extremity of the humerus / by Robert William Smith. 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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    The arm was directed obliquely downwards and inwards, the elbow approximated to the side, and the hand and forearm in a state of pronation. Since the preceding pages went to press, I have been favoured by my friend Surgeon Wilde, with a very detailed account of a case of congenital luxation beneath the coracoid process, upon the right side, which has been for some time under his own care. The patient is a young lady thirteen years of age : the deformity was first noticed at the age of three months when the arm was observed to hang in an unnatural position by the side, and the child appeared unable to raise it to a right angle with the body. From that period up to the present time, the deformity became every year more evident, and it now pre- sents all the characters which I have described in the preceding pages as indicating congenital luxations of the shoulder. And this is a case which has not been neglected, having been under treatment from the time when the deformity was first noticed ; but all means have proved useless, all mechanical contrivances have failed to retain the head of the bone in its natural position. The child did not receive any injury of the joint and the cir- cumstance of the deformity having escaped observation for the space of three months will not appear surprising, when w’e con- sider, that at this early period of life, the rotundity and plump- ness of the shoulder are preserved by the great abundance of adeps which surrounds the joint. Such is a brief but accurate statement of the facts which I have observed relating to congenital luxations of the articulation of the shoulder. Our knowledge of these remarkable affec- tions must, of course, be considered as still incomplete ; we want a more extended series of observations; a larger number of cases must be grouped together, to enable us to give a full and complete history of congenital dislocations of the shoulder. Until these objects are accomplished, I trust that thepieceding observations may not be considered destitute of interest. Xpw toTq elp)]likuoiQ, »/ ?/jr£i (5t\rUo tovtuv.