Adenoid growths in the naso-pharynx / by W.R.H. Stewart.

  • Stewart, William Robert Henry, 1852-1906.
Date:
[between 1880 and 1889?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Adenoid growths in the naso-pharynx / by W.R.H. Stewart. 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 length of time the symptoms have lasted before treat- ment is applied for, and the condition of the middle ear, must make a considerable difference in the prognosis, for, if taken in time, there is no class of cases that give such favourable results, the general health shows marked and immediate improvement, the stupid look disappears, and the hearing power rapidly gains strength, though the assistance of Politzer’s Inflation may be necessary. In fact, some of the little patients declare they can hear better in twenty-four hours. But, on the other hand, if brought late for treatment, a chronic middle car catarrh, suppura- tive or otherwise, may have made such ravages on the delicate contents of the tympanic cavity, that the hearing power may be either greatly impaired or entirely lost. The friends and relations of the little patients, with a natural dread of all operations, frequently ask if they will not grow out of them; and there is no doubt they will, for, as a rule, the growths have shrunk away by the age of twenty. But this should never be allowed to weigh with the medical attendant, for while they are growing out of them, the mis- chief is accomplished beyond repair. Early operation should therefore always be insisted on. The diagnosis is easily arrived at if the precaution is taken of always making a digital examination of the naso-pharynx in all cases of nasal obstruction in children that come for treatment, for it is almost impossible in these cases to examine the pos- terior nares with the rhinoscope. If this precaution is not taken, the presence of these growths may be overlooked, when they are complicated with an hypertrophic rhinitis, or hypertrophied tonsils, and occasionally a nasal polypus situated far back in the posterior nares; or still more rarely, a naso-pharyngeal polypus may be mistaken for them ; but all these difficulties disappear if the trouble is taken to simply pass the finger into the naso-pharynx ; and the