The management of the abscesses of hip disease / by A.B. Judson.

  • Judson, Adoniram Brown, 1837-1916.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The management of the abscesses of hip disease / by A.B. Judson. 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.

    7/23 (page 4)
    charges and those in which such discharges occur brings to light several circumstances which take away the dread of abscesses, and make their occurrence, if not a desira- ble event, at least an evil attended with compensating ad- vantages. Their occurrence appears to shorten the dura- tion of the affection. The degree of deformity following treatment depends in no way on the presence or absence of purulent discharges, and the clear picture of pathological anatomy which may be inferred from the presence of sinus- es discharging pus, and leading to diseased bone, is not only interesting, but of practical value, as it leads to a cheer- ful endurance of prolonged mechanical treatment (always more irksome, by the way, to the friends of the patient than to the patient himself), and enables the physician to say with confidence, when the sinuses are permanently closed, that the bone is also firmly and permanently cicatrized. It follows, then, that the abscesses of hip disease are not to he considered dreadful precursors of a fatal result. In patients treated in accordance with the principles suggested above, a purulent discharge is more or less an inconveni- ence, but its occurrence, whether from one aperture or many, is not a cause of anxiety. It is exceptionally attend- ed with hectic or emaciation. When these appear, they indicate a condition of the patient serious indeed, but by no means necessarily a result of the abscess. There is no evidence that the discharge, as such, exhausts the strength of the patient. This tradition, like many another, is dis- proved by experience. The general condition of the patient remains good, and not infrequently it is robust. He con- tinues active in locomotion without the assistance of crutches, excepting the ischiatic crutch of the hip-splint, and follows w'ith success the ordinary pursuits of life. The diseased tissues are defended from motion, and the violence insepa- rable from standing and walking in the usual way. The