Compressed air illness, or, So-called caisson disease / by E. Hugh Snell.

  • Snell, E. Hugh.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Compressed air illness, or, So-called caisson disease / by E. Hugh Snell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    the presence of free gases ; he considered that life was thereby prolonged, but in no case was death averted/ I have only recently been aware of Paul Bert's observations on this matter, and have not had an opportunity of giving the remedy the proper trial which it deserves, though it is not probable that it can be superior to recompression, except in its portability. Epigastric pain is usually relieved rapidly by recom- pression, though the slighter cases yield readily to a carminative. Complications, such as paralysis of the bladder and rectum, must be treated as in ordinary spinal cases ; a prolonged course of strychnine is beneficial. The cases of ear disease sometimes caused by entry into compressed air in no way differ from the corresponding conditions arising from other causes. Prolonged cases of vertigo show themselves little amenable to the influence of drugs ; tonics appear to be of the most use. Wherever compressed air is going to be used on an extensive scale, a small hospital close at hand should be provided. The painful necessity of conveying men, some- times dangerously ill, to a distant hospital or to their homes, would then be avoided. 15