A letter, containing some observations on fractures of the lower limbs : to which is added, an account of a contrivance to administer cleanliness and comfort to the bed-ridden, or persons confined to bed by age, accident, sickness, or any other infirmity / by Sir James Earle.

Date:: 1807

Credit: A letter, containing some observations on fractures of the lower limbs : to which is added, an account of a contrivance to administer cleanliness and comfort to the bed-ridden, or persons confined to bed by age, accident, sickness, or any other infirmity / by Sir James Earle. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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$But I must confess that I have long enter- tained doubts whether this ought to be consi- dered the best position for broken thighs. From • / the large mass of strong muscles surrounding the bone, from there being only one point of solid contact and no other bone to assist in keeping it steady, the thigh-bone is the most difficult to be placed, and most easy to be displaced, of any in the human frame. From long expe- rience, I am convinced that bending the thigh and laying it on the outside, will not insure a straight and even union; and I appeal to those who have seen many fractured thighs treated in this manner, if the broken ends of the bone do not frequently ride over each other, in conse- quence of which the broken thigh is often made shorter than the other, and the foot in walking turns outward. These defects, if they are not very wrong, become palliated, and less discernible, from the person being accustomed to meet them, by lowering, as he walks, the pelvis on the de-$