On stricture of the male urethra : its radical cure / by Fessenden N. Otis.

  • Otis, Fessenden N. (Fessenden Nott), 1825-1900.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On stricture of the male urethra : its radical cure / by Fessenden N. Otis. 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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    portions of the urethra, it arises, probably, from incision into the trabecular spaces. In either case, the danger of recurrence is not entirely over before the fourth or fifth day. 4th. Slight urethral fever has followed the operation but seven times. Six times, when for stricture in the curved portion of the urethra; once only, when the operations were in the pendulous portion of the organ, and this occurred in a malarious subject. This leads me to remark, that, in my experience, operations confined to the pendulous urethra, are, as a rule, never followed hy constitution- al disturbance^ even when six or seven strictures are divided at the same sitting. But, to insure this result, no instrument, not even a sound for exploratory purposes, should be passed into the bladder, during, or immediately subsequent, to the operation. 5th. Three operations were followed by prostatic abscess. In one of these cases, the patient, who was a physician, sailed for the West Indies in about a week after the operation, (which was for a single stricture near the meatus,) and reported trouble of the pros- tate coming on soon^after, he, meanwhile, using a,sound himself, to prevent recontraction. In the second case the patient, who was accompanied by his physician, left my care three days after operation, and one week after reaching home, (during which a sound was passed every day or two,) the prostatic trouble came on, which ended in abscess. In the third case, the patient, who had been operated on for five stric- tures, of a very dense character, passed from my observation immediately after the operation. Prostatic trouble came on insid- iously during the next ten days, while the sound was being occa- sionally passed to prevent recontraction. I will not criticise, nor attempt to explain, the causes which led to the prostatic trouble in these cases. I recognize the fact, that the simple introduction of a sound, through the deep urethra, even with the utmost skill and care, may, of itself, give rise to an irritation which may terminate in abscess of the prostate. But I will state that no such accident has befallen any case which has remained under my own per- sonal care, until healing of the wound has taken place. 6th. Curvature of the penis downward, followed in three cases where numerous strictures were divided, but this trouble occurring during erections was unattended with pain and passed off entirely within from two to six months after the operation, in two cases. In one case, at the end of a }'ear, there was slight curvature, but gave no trouble.