An account of spina bifida : with remarks on a method of treatment proposed by Mr. Abernethy / by Thomas Verney Okes.

  • Okes, Thomas Verney.
Date:
1810
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An account of spina bifida : with remarks on a method of treatment proposed by Mr. Abernethy / by Thomas Verney Okes. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    escape. The thickened state of the integu- ments arose from a variety of irritating appli- cations being employed to disperse the tumour. As I knew that the child must shortly perish if nothing were done, I punctured the swelling at some distance from the ulcerated part, and let out six ounces of perfectly limpid fluid, I then closed the aperture by means of sticking plaister, dressed the sore with mild salve, and afterwards, laying a compress over the whole, made a slight degree of pressure on the part by applying moderately broad slips of sticking plaister on the compress. Upon removing the dressings the second day after the operation, I found the puncture quite healed, the ulcerated orifice closed, and the sore having a healthy appearance; the sac was now about half filled. In two days the ulcer was much better, and the sac nearly full. I now again discharged, by puncture, about the same quantity of limpid fluid, and afterwards applied the compress in the same manner. The thickened skin fell into wrinkles when the fluid was let out, but shewed no disposition to contract. The puncture was repeated every fourth day for six weeks, during which the child's health continued unaffected, but the great obstacle to recovery still remained, viz. want of contractility in the skin, the dimensions of which did not seem to have varied from what they were at first. The