On the pain in pelvic cancer and its relief by morphia : illustrated by fifty cases / by Francis Henry Champneys.

  • Champneys, Francis Henry, Sir, 1848-1930.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pain in pelvic cancer and its relief by morphia : illustrated by fifty cases / by Francis Henry Champneys. 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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    ance? This seems most probable^ especially wben we remember that the response was at first unilateral, and became afterwards bilaterally symmetrical, illustrating Pfliiger^s laws of reflex response. I should feel inclined to connect the nocturnal spasm with the remarks above made with regard to the vascular state and nocturnal pain, and to suggest that, although intermittent phenomena cannot be accounted for by actual cancerous invasion of these motor nerves, they might be due to hypersemia extending beyond the disease in their neigh- bourhood. The only case resembling these in any respect is one related by Cornil Gaz. Med. de Paris,' 1863, p. 461). Cancroide de la portion vaginal du col uterin et du vagin, alteration consecutive de memo nature des nerfs sciatique et crural du cote gauche.''^ This was a case of Charcot's. There was oedema of the left lower limb, great pain therein, which began in the great toe, then came in the calf and thigh, and then in the gluteal region. The pain preceded the oedema five weeks. The pain was at first paroxysmal and intense, making her call out, and was compared by the patient to pinching, it followed the course of the external saphenous nerve. The thigh became flexed on the pelvis, the leg on the thigh at an obtuse angle, the foot strongly extended, toes flexed on the foot, sensibility of skin and power of motion not lost, but the latter impaired. Post-mortem examination showed thrombosis of the whole crural vein, which was invaded with cancer. Anterior crural nerve can- cerous, and around it in its whole course dissecting suppura- tion; sacral, lumbo-sacral, and sciatic nerves cancerous; femoral artery sound. Ulcerated cancer of cervix uteri and vagina, the former destroyed. The flexion in this case was apparently permanent, and difl'ered from that in ours. Weir Mitchell (''Injuries of Nerves,' p. 123) mentions chorea in limbs after injury to the nerves as dependent on changes in the nerves^ but gives no case which resembles mine.