The diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the rectum : being a practical treatise on fistula, piles, fissure and painful ulcer, procidentia, polypus, stricture, cancer, etc. / by William Allingham and Herbert W. Allingham.

  • Allingham, William, 1829-1908.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the rectum : being a practical treatise on fistula, piles, fissure and painful ulcer, procidentia, polypus, stricture, cancer, etc. / by William Allingham and Herbert W. Allingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    patient be unwilling to submit to any operation, certain methods may fairly be tried. We have been successful on several occasions in curing simple blind external, and even complete fistulas, by the applica- tion of strong carbolic acid, iodine, or chromic acid. This mode of treatment, if carried out with great care and some perseverance, offers the best chance for the patient. It is essential that the outer opening of the fistula should be much dilated before applying the acids. The dilatation can be accomplished by keeping in a small portion of sea-tangle for a few days, or by a small sponge tent. When the opening is large enough, one should clean out the sinus well, and then rapidly run down to the end of it a small piece of wool saturated in strong carbolic acid with 10 per cent, of water. The wool is twisted upon a stiff piece of wire set in a handle and just roughened at the free end, and can, with a little practice, be wound tightly on the end of the wire, so as to be small enough to go right to the bottom of the sinus. The wire is then withdrawn, and a drainage-tube just large enough to fill the sinus is inserted and kept in ; the interior of the sinus is, by the acid, induced to granulate, and if the treatment is success- ful, it will be found day by day that a shorter drainage-tube will be required until the whole sinus is filled up. It may be necessary to apply the acid more than once, and to use other stimulants, as friar's balsam, solutions of sulphate of copper, or nitrate of silver, etc., but never strong injections. Care should always be taken to keep the external