Fractures, dislocations, diseases and deformities of the bones of the trunk and upper extremities / by Hugh Owen Thomas.

  • Thomas, Hugh Owen, 1834-1891.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Fractures, dislocations, diseases and deformities of the bones of the trunk and upper extremities / by Hugh Owen Thomas. 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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    the judgment of the sufferer sometimes may be regarding his own progress. This man, with one appliance, was able to drive and stoke an engine, whilst with another he was unfit for any labour, and yet he believed the latter to be the better aid. Three years ago, a man, who is now residing in Widnes, and in busi- ness as a stationer and printer, consulted me for spinal disease in the lower part of the dorsal region. The complaint had commenced some twelve months previously, and it progressed so, that he was obliged to resign a situation which he had held in one of our outlying town- ships. At my advice, he procured a strong and well-fitting Bauer's shield, which I applied, and which mitigated his distress so much, that he informed me that, if he only had the shield applied before, he need not have had to resign his situation. He continued to wear the shield, and from time to time informed me that it continued to benefit him. However, after the patient had continued the use of the support many months, he happened to go to a seaside resort, and there met a man supposed to be suffering from spinal disease, who was encased in a plaster jacket. This worthy spoke so highly in praise of it, that my patient immediately came to this town and consulted a surgeon skilled in jacketing, who set aside the Bauer's shield, and encased the patient in a plaster of Paris support; but, as the sufferer felt helpless in it, it was thought advisable that he should have it re-applied under a more favourable condition, so he was taken into a large infirmary and had the jacket re- applied. This second application did not give the aid expected, and the suf- ferer was retained as an indoor patient, and confined to bed for three months. At the end of this period, his hope of deriving benefit from the encase- ment had worn away, so that he decided to leave the infirmary, which he was able to do only by the help of two assistants. At a convenient oppor- tunity he took off the plaster shell, and re-applied the Bauer shield, which at once enabled him to dispense with attendants and resume the supervi- sion of his business. As the sufferer in this instance had his error pointed out rather plainly, so he could not fail to find that he had made a mistake. With the extensive posterior check he could walk