A practical guide to the administration of anaesthetics / by R. J. Probyn-Williams.

  • Probyn-Williams, R. J.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A practical guide to the administration of anaesthetics / by R. J. Probyn-Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    If the patient is extremely feeble it may be well to administer a little stimulant even within half an hour of the operation, but this should only be done in exceptional cases. One or two tablespoonfuls of good brandy diluted with an equal quantity of water may be taken by the mouth ; but it is better given in a nutrient enema, with two ounces of beef-tea, and an egg beaten up in it. It is well to caution habitual smokers that they must deny themselves on the morning of the operation, and be strictly moderate on the evening before ; as the pharyngeal catarrh which so generally exists will by recent indulgence be temporarily increased, and will often cause great annoyance to the patient and anaesthetist during the early stages of the administration. In operations on the stomach that organ should be washed out just before the anaesthetic is given ; and unless the general condition is too serious, the same pro- cedure may be followed with advantage in any patients suffering from frequent vomiting, as in cases of intestinal obstruction, etc. For the administrations of nitrous oxide and ethyl chloride much preparation of the patient is not necessary; but a better anaesthesia will be obtained if no food has been taken for two hours previously, so that for dental operations the later hours of the morning and afternoon are to be preferred. It is also important that no stimulant should be taken just before the administration, as if it is the anaesthesia will be shorter. Examination of the Patient In examining a patient before the administration of an anaesthetic, a general inspection is often more valuable than auscultation of the chest. In cases of death from cardiac failure, it is seldom that the preliminary ausculta- tion has suggested danger. The patient will almost