On the treatment of amputations by the open method / by Frederic S. Dennis.

  • Frederic Shepard Dennis
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the treatment of amputations by the open method / by Frederic S. Dennis. 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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    point. Tlie compression of the femoral artery was discon- tinued, and no additional haemorrhage took place. There was no further trouble during the night, and the pa- tieut rested well. Space will not permit of a daily note of the progress of this little boy ; it is, however, worthy ot mention that, on the sixth day after this severe operation, he sat up in bed, and appeared cheerful and happy. On the seventh day every ligature came away without any force, and the flaps were now brought into apposition, and a beautiful stump was moulded from day to-day. Case YII. Service of Dr. James R. Wood.—M. Q., aged twenty. Admitted December 1, 1875, 5.45 p. m. This pa- tient was injured by machinery. Upon examination, there were found severe burns of the first and second degree upon her arms and left leg, a severe sprain of the shoulder-joint, and a compound fracture of the right tibia with extensive laceration of the soft parts. The tibia was denuded of its periosteum for a considerable distance, and the tendons of the tibialis anticus, peroneus tertius, and extensors, were hanging from the open wound. Dr. Wood carefully examined the case, condemned the leg, and amputation was performed at once. The incision was begun just below the insertion of the quad- riceps extensor. The patient rallied nicely from the opera- tion and made a most satisfactory recovery. Notwithstanding the fact that she was suffering from peripheral irritation due to burns and from a severe attack of dysinenorrhoea, at the maximum of suppurative fever the thermometer did not rise higher than 102° Fahr. She sat up in bed on the sixth day after the operation, and her temperature was 98-^° for three following mornings. Case VIII. Service of Dr. James 17. Wood.—O. D., aged thirty-four. This patient was brought to Bellevue Hos- pital by the ambulance, having crushed his leg while attempt- ing to couple some freight-cars belonging to the Hudson River Railroad Company. Upon examination of the injury, the right, leg was found to be very much swollen and tense, the tissues being infiltrated with blood. There was a small opening in the skin a few inches above the external malleolus, and this aperture was large enough to admit the surgeon’s finger, which, upon being introduced, could be swept around to a considerable extent. The soft tissues were pulpified, and there was a comminuted fracture of the tibia. The fibula was also broken, but not comminuted. There was no pulsation in the anterior tibial artery, although the pulsations were dis- tinct in the posterior tibial at a point below the internal mal- leolus. There was considerable haemorrhage when the com-