Scab healing and its application in general surgery / by J. Delpratt Harris.

  • Harris, John Delpratt.
Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Scab healing and its application in general surgery / by J. Delpratt Harris. 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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    The water should be in a porous vessel, or failing that, a tin, with rag fastened on it outside in such a manner that the strands of thread, which irrigate the joint, keep the rag on the tin wet also, and thus by evaporation cause the water to be as cool as such means will allow. Under such treatment very gratifying results may be obtained, and a useful joint preserved. In those instances where ice is not to be obtained, it is useful to render the joint cool, prior to operating, and the irrigation should be practised some hours previously. Under such conditions the operation should be per- formed as rapidly as possible, the dressing completed, and the irrigation re-applied. It has also been found advisable, prior to entirely leaving off the irrigation, to allow the water to become warmer, thus gradually allowing the joint to return to its natural temperature. Such treatment, especially with ice, is very powerful, it must be remembered; and healing may be entirely arrested for weeks, until the dangers feared are seemingly passed, when by the gradual warming of the part, as above described, the healing process may be regulated almost to a nicety. It must, however, be borne in mind, that when treating wounds of joints with this system, the keystone lies in obtain- ing primary union of the wound, and thus excluding all patho- genic microbes.