On the solvent treatment of urinary calculi : an experimental and clinical inquiry / by William Roberts, M.D. ; communicated by Henry Bence Jones, M.D.

  • Roberts, William, Sir, 1830-1899.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the solvent treatment of urinary calculi : an experimental and clinical inquiry / by William Roberts, M.D. ; communicated by Henry Bence Jones, M.D. 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.

    6/54 (page 2)
    in the urinary organs^ and already too large to he discharged by the natural passages, can be actually dissolved by any mode of internal treatment. The only benefit whicli -we may with any confidence expect from medicine in this disease is either to prevent the increase of calculi already formed, or, what is still more important, to guard the constitution of those who are subject to the disorder against the prevalence of the particular diathesis from which it arises.''^^ More recent writers on the subject (Civiale, Eces, Heller) express themselves as doubtfully about solvent remedies; and the small doses wdiich they recommend, indicate very clearly, that tlie most they expect from their operation is to facilitate the spontaneous expulsion of the concretions, to prevent their further growth, and to palliate their symptoms. Nevertheless, the past history of the subject contains some convincing proofs that calculi have been dissolved within the bladder by means of alkaline substances; audit appeared worthy of inquiry whether a more exact re-examination of the question might not reveal the causes of the discrepant results obtained in past times, and indicate, with some approach to certainty, what may be rationally expected from a solvent treatment, the cases in whicli it is applicable, and the precise mode of carrying it out effectually. With this view, immerous experiments and observations were made by the author at intervals extending over several years; and the results obtained seem to demand a consider- able modification of the prevailing opinion. They do not by any means indicate the general possibility of substituting a solvent for a mechanical treatment of vesical calculi, but they suggest an essential improvement in the treatment of renal concretions; they also indicate that uric acid and cystin, under certain circumstances, are capable of solution in the bladder by means of medicines administered by the mouth, at a rate whicli admits of practical application, and that iu certain picked cases a solvent treatment deserves tg » Mfti'cot, * On CiJculous Disorders/ p. 143.