The surgeon's vade mecum : a manual of modern surgery / by Robert Druitt.

  • Robert Druitt
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The surgeon's vade mecum : a manual of modern surgery / by Robert Druitt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    PROSTEATIOX WITH EXCITEMENT. O Voinitiiiij iniiy he iiUayoJ by soda water with brandy; or by a liU'gi; dose of solid opium (gr. ii.) ; or by au opiate enema (F. 101), or bv a mustiird poultice (¥. 156) to the epigastrium.—Hiccup may be relieved by sm;dl doses of sp. aetheris comp.—ConDuhions, delirium, and coma, are to be treated accortUug to the state of the circulation; by ammonia and stimulants whilst it is depressed, but by a very c<autious leeching, or pui'giug, or application of cold to the Iiead, if they remain after the circulation is restoi-ed, and the pulse has become firm. Ill an extreme case it might be worth wliilc to kill a sheep, strip off the skin immediately, and wrap the patient in it. Baron Larrey had seen this done by certain humane Esquimaux, with the greatest benefit, to some shipwrecked Frenchmen that were half dead with cold, fatigue, and hunger; and he put it in practice with e<iual success in the ca^e of Jlarshal Launes, Due de Montebello, when he was dangerously bruised by a fall from his horse during one of 2sapoleon's Spanish campaigns. Finally, the vulgar and mischievous habit of bleeding patients im- mediately after an injury, before they have recovered fi'om a state of faintness ixnd depression, needs only to be mentioned to be condemned. CHArTEll II. PROSTEATIOX WITH EXCITEJIEXT, AXD DELIRIUM TRAUMATICUM. Definition'.— Prostration with excitement and excessive reac- tion, is the tenii used by Mr. Travel's to signify a state wliicli some- times follows the collapse from a severe injury. .Syju'TOMS.—The symptoms vary extremely in different cases, although they present tiie uniform character of extreme and cchaustiwj excitement, without genuine febrile action. There is great anxiety about tiie region of the heart: tlie respiration is oppressed and sigh- ing ; the j)ulse exceedingly rapid and bounding, but soft and com- pressible ; the face is flushed, and there is vomiting. But, in the majority of these cases, the principal fi-'ature is tlie excitement of the ner\'ous system, which is manifested by a peculiar delirium Qlelirium tranimlicum) precisely similar to the delirium tremens. The tongue is moist and tremulous ; there is a general tremor of the muscles ; the skin is covered with perspiration ; the patient is totally sleejiless, irrita- ble in his temper, answers questions in a snajiijish, or ])eevisli, or inco- herent manner ; is often anxious to call himself jierlectly well; and, as the malady increases, he becomes restless, impatient, and talkative ; wishes, perhaps, to get out of bed, ;uid attempts to injure his attend- ants, and soon liiM.omes most furiously maniacal. In some cases, however, the delirium is of a milder cast; the patient is haunted with
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