A discussion of some questions relating to tonsillotomy : read before the State Medical Society of Pennsylvania, at its meeting in 1882, and published in The Medical Record of February, 1883 ; Clinical remarks upon deflections of the nasal septum, with a presentation of two cases made before the Allegheny County Medical Society, at its meeting, November, 1883 / by W.H. Daly.

  • Daly, W. H. (William Hudson), 1842-1901.
Date:
[1883]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A discussion of some questions relating to tonsillotomy : read before the State Medical Society of Pennsylvania, at its meeting in 1882, and published in The Medical Record of February, 1883 ; Clinical remarks upon deflections of the nasal septum, with a presentation of two cases made before the Allegheny County Medical Society, at its meeting, November, 1883 / by W.H. Daly. 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.

    11/22 (page 7)
    emit too much blood. I also like to have a galvano-cautery battery ready for use, with a pharyngeal knife attached to the Fig- 5- handle, in order to arrest hemorrhage, which may be copious and persistent from blood vessels too minute to be seen with the naked eye. Indeed, the most alarming case of hemorrhage I have ever seen after this operation was in such a case; the patient became so weak from the loss of blood that he was neither able to stand nor sit. It is true, a simple gargle of alum-water or tannin will most generally suffice, and either iced or very hot water as a gargle is quite equal to control most of the cases of hemorrhage that will occur, but to be prepared for emergencies is only to be guided by good judgment. A case of hemorrhage after tonsillotomy was related to me by a medical man that contains such a valuable lesson that it is worthy of repeating here. He had an appointment to re- move the enlarged tonsils of a farmer’s boy, but when he punctually arrived, ready to operate, the boy had reconsidered the matter, and thought it wise to be away after the cows. The •doctor, not to be outwitted by the boy, drove after him, and at length found him with the cows some distance from the house on an out-of-the-way roadside. After some persuasion the boy •finally assented to the operation being done on the spot. One of the tonsils was seized and removed by the guillotine, but the hemorrhage which immediately followed was so copious and alarming as to compel the operator to keep his fingers on the stump of the gland for several hours before any one hap- pened along, in order to get assistance and save the patient’s life. This operation was not performed soon again by my friend, and when he did so a more auspicious occasion and •surroundings were wisely secured for the work. Dr. Morell Mackenzie says he has “ only known of one case where hemorrhage actually seemed to endanger life out of the one thousand cases reported.” Velpeau reported four cases of laying open the internal carotid artery in operations for the [removal of tonsils. I once had a case of serious tonsillar hemorrhage recurring