On the admission of air into the veins / by G.F. Lane.

  • Lane, George F. (George Frederick), 1828?-1856.
Date:
[1850]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the admission of air into the veins / by G.F. Lane. 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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    ADMISSION OF AIR INTO THE VEINS. By G. F. LANE, Esq. Read on Thursday, February 28, 1850. My attention was directed to the sub- ject of “ air in veins” from having been called to assist at a surgical operation during the course of which the patient became an unfortunate illustration of the effects of even a small quantity of air in the circulation, when suddenly introduced through a wounded vein. Though it would be impossible to deter- mine with anything like accuracy the amount of air which entered, yet, from the small size of the opening, and the strict attention directed to the spot at the time, the quantity must have been very inconsiderable. The sudden ac- cession of symptoms in this case, and the rapidly fatal termination of many others, render it unnecessary for me to allude to the importance of the subject, and at the same time serve in some measure to explain the meagre detail which is evident in cases of this kind, recorded as having occurred in the human subject. Mrs. Simkiss, set. 46, a married wo- man, of light complexion, usually en joying good health, and mother of eight children; while suckling the last two she suffered pain in her left breast, and, on weaning the youngest six years ago, a small hard lump mado its appearance in the axilla, which increased and became so painful that * she desired its removal. On the 7th of February, 1848, Mr. Gay per- formed the operation. The patient was seated in a chair, and rendered insensi- ble by the administration of chloroform. Having divided the integuments across the floor of the axilla, a large glandular mass was brought into view, carefully dissected from the surrounding parts, and excised: three small arteries were tied, and scarcely any blood was lost. At the bottom of the wound there re- mained a portion of diseased structure, which it was deemed advisable to re- move. To effect this, the diseased tissue was seized with a tenaculum and drawn down : the arm being raised, to allow of its being distinctly seen. In dissecting it out, a tributary branch of the axillary vein was wounded near the chest: the opening was small: air was seen both by Mr. Gay and myself to enter the orifice, accompanied with a peculiar noise sufficiently loud to be audible to all present: the sound being quite characteristic of the entrance of ah and fluid through a contracted open- ing, or of ah drawn through fluid,— something between gurgling and hiss- ing, and resembling the sound heard when, in ch-awing the last portion of a fluid from a vessel into a syringe, some ah accompanies it. A great chango was immediately noticed in the condi- tion of the patient: the powers of the circulation sank; the woman, who had nearly recovered from the influence of chloroform, (tlio effect of which had not been kept up as the operation was nearly concluded,) became exceedingly faint and sank down in the chair.