Observations on the nature and treatment of fractures of the upper third of the thigh-bone, and of fractures of long standing.

  • Amesbury, Joseph, 1795-1864.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the nature and treatment of fractures of the upper third of the thigh-bone, and of fractures of long standing. 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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    kind of fracture which we are now considering. I have said, that the bones of old persons unite much more tardily than those of young ; occa- sionally they take double, sometimes treble the time in uniting, and that the cause of this, is the diminished quantity of blood sent to them. Now, the fracture of which we are speaking, occurs principally in old people, in whom the blood is scantily sent to the bones; and the fracture renders this supply to the head of the femur still less, by tearing through a portion of the vessels, which go to the pelvic portion. What is the evident inference to be drawn from these facts ? That, as there is in the pelvic portion a less supply of the pabulum, which is necessary for the production of the uniting medium, the process of union must be retarded, as an edifice takes a longer period in building when the labour- ers are few, or the materials supplied but slowly; but we must not consider from this, that a frac- ture thus situated, can never unite, any more than we may infer, that an edifice so circum- stanced, could never be built. Notwithstanding the vessels in the substance of the bone are torn through, there are yet left entire the ma- jority of those that pass over the fracture, as they ramify in the periosteum and reflected membrane, in their way to the pelvic extremity