Injuries and diseases of the knee-joint considered from the clinical aspect / by Sir William Bennett ; with thirty-four illustrations.

  • Bennett, William Henry, Sir, 1852-1921.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Injuries and diseases of the knee-joint considered from the clinical aspect / by Sir William Bennett ; with thirty-four illustrations. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    approaches most nearly to the skin on the aspect of the limb most exposed to injury. Posteriorly the joint cavity in flexion may be said to be out of harm^s way; in extension the synovial cavity in relation with the condyles comes within a vulnerable distance of the skin^ but in this situation a wound of the joint may be a matter of secondary importance in consequence of coincident damage to large vessels and nerves. The difference in the relation of the patella to the condyles^ in extension^ semi-flexion and flexion is a matter of some moment^ especially in connection with the point of entry of penetrating wounds. Supposing^ for example, an instrument to have entered the joint immediately below the patella in flexion of the knee; the entrance wound, if the knee were extended, would be over the anterior surface of the patella, which, unless careful inquiries had been made as to the position of the limb at the time of injury, might lead to a delusive sense of security on the supposition that a wound of the joint had been prevented by the instrument impinging on the patella. There are, in addition to the patella, fre- quently two, sometimes three, sesamoid bones in re- lation with the knee, one in the popliteus tendon and one in the outer head of the gastrocnemius, just below its point of origin; a third is very rarely met with in the inner head of the gastrocnemius. These accessory sesamoids are small and of little clinical importance, but a knowledge of their existence is