A practical treatise on hip-joint disease : with reference especially to treatment, by mechanical means, for the relief of contraction and deformity of the affected limb / by William Curtis Hugman.

  • Hugman, William Curtis, 1816-1887.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on hip-joint disease : with reference especially to treatment, by mechanical means, for the relief of contraction and deformity of the affected limb / by William Curtis Hugman. 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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    should be taken as much as possible into the open air, which acts as a stimulus to the vital powers; and gentle exercise, provided pain in the joint does not follow ,may be allowed. And further on— I firmlv beheve that the doctrine of rest is carried to too great an extent, and that modified exercise is of vast im- portance in this disease. The opinion of Lugol is mentioned in support of this proposition. He con- siders that scrofulous patients should not be restricted to absolute confinement in hed. In this latter opinion, doubtless, all good practitioners will agree; but at the same time I conceive that there is a vast difference between positive confinement in bed and the necessary continued rest upon a sofa or an appropriate conchy and it is a well-known fact, that persons who are af- flicted with chronic diseases, especially children, will bear confinement with very little interference to their general health, provided that the position be an easy one, the apartment large and well ventilated, and the mind amused. I am convinced that I do not err in stating that the general opinion is adverse to any kind of motion of the affected limb. Mr. S. Cooper says :* The most essential part of the treatment consists in keeping the joint perfectly quiet: this principle is insisted upon by all good practical surgeons. If the joint be moved, there will certainly be abscesses, and the disease will take an unfavorable course. In the early stage we * Pirst Lines of the Practice of Sui-gery, p. 287.