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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    high division of the tissues ensues. The operator must not rashly thrust the point of the probe through the mucous membrane, or he will wound his finger ; this accident may always be avoided by a little gentle and patient manipulation, even when the tissues are indurated. When he has divided the fistula from the external to the internal opening, he should search higher wdth the probe for any sinus running up beyond the internal opening; if this exists, it should be laid open. Many authorities have stated that it is only necessary to incise the fistula between its external and internal openings, and that the sinus above the internal opening will spontaneously close, a impor- result which very rarely occurs. In our experience, layhiV^ in the vast majority of cases, the patient will not sEet.^ be cured unless the whole sinus is opened from end to end. It has constantly occurred to us at St. Mark's to treat cases which had been operated on at other hospitals, the upper part of the sinus having been left and the patients not being cured. In such cases fresh or continued burrowing takes place from the upper track, and a second operation, often more severe than the first, is rendered necessary. It needs scarcely be said that in private practice this is very damaging to the surgeon's reputation. Having, then, opened the fistula in its whole length upwards, a search with the tip of the finger, assisted with the probe, should be made for lateral sinuses extendinsr from the main track, also for any