Common errors in the treatment of the urethra and bladder / by James Pedersen.

  • Pedersen, James.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Common errors in the treatment of the urethra and bladder / by James Pedersen. 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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    stopping his alcoholics as soon as the gonococci had been reported, no general treatment had been given. He had continued his sexual excess and his very liberal use of tobacco. After two weeks of absolute sexual rest and the use of a very mild hand injection at lengthening intervals, he was able to report: “No drop of pus has appeared, and really no true drop of mucuslike fluid.” The common errors in the treatment of the ure- thra and bladder, may be summed up as errors of omission and errors of commission. Under errors of omission, may be grouped: Neglect of a prosta- titis or seminal vesiculitis, or both; neglect of the patient’s general condition; failure to insist upon sexual hygiene; failure to regulate his habits as to alcoholics, tobacco, and coffee; inattention to the dietary and the quantity of water drunk. Under errors of commission may be placed: The use of the sound in the face of contraindications; overfrequent dilatation and overdilatation; the un- scientific use of urethral irrigations in general (in particular, the use of intravesical irrigations before the chronic stage of a urethritis) ; the use of strong, i. e., caustic, injections and instillations; the sudden emptying of a chronically overdistended bladder; the administration of methylene blue except as a placebo; and, finally, the use of undistilled water in making up a solution of silver nitrate. I have ventured thus to indicate the common cause of our failures in the ordinary cases in this sphere of practice, hoping to aid in urging a more careful analysis of them, to the end that our failures may be diminished and our successes multiplied. It is admitted that many cases are complex, but a de- tailed history will often simplify them, and, when supplemented by a proper physical examination as a working basis, will usually direct the treatment aright. 20 East Forty-sixth Street.