The modern operations for cataract : being the Lettsomian Lectures for 1884 / by Robert Brudenell Carter.

  • Carter, Robert Brudenell, 1828-1918.
Date:
1884
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The modern operations for cataract : being the Lettsomian Lectures for 1884 / by Robert Brudenell Carter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    covering the lower lid is often lax and distensible, and opposes no resistance to the action of the orbicularis. The surface of the eye is uneasy from the wound, and the orbicularis comes into constant reflex action. The result is that the lower lid becomes completely canted over, its margin tucked down within the retrotarsal fold, so that the eyelashes rest in contact with the globe, where, by the irritation they excite, they provide for the continuance of the displacement. This condition never fails to produce much superficial irritation, which, if neglected, leads on to iritis, so that the position of the lower lid must always be carefully looked to, and any tendency to displacement must be remedied without delay. All that is necessary in this direction may be accomplished by contractile collodion, if only it be effectually applied ; but so much depends upon the fulfilment of this condition that the application should never be committed to any but thoroughly trustworthy hands. Much of the collodion sold under the name is not really contractile; and the surgeon should always test it by applying a drop to the back of his own hand, and should not use it for the patient unless, in the act of drying, it pulls the skin into strongly marked wrinkles. When satisfied on this point, the next thing is to draw the lower lid well downwards and away from the eye, and thoroughly to dry its cutaneous surface, to which, otherwise, the collodion will not adhere. The collodion should then be painted on with a camel's hair brush, not too large, which must be carried quite up to the ciliary margin of the lid, along its entire length, so that the collodion film comes into contact with the bases of the lashes, but does not pass upon the free lid margin within them. The application should be liberal in point