On the diagnosis and treatment of fractures of the neck of the femur : being the introduction to a discussion in the Section of Surgery at the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association held in London, July-August, 1895 / by Sir William Stokes.

  • Stokes, Sir William, 1839-1900.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the diagnosis and treatment of fractures of the neck of the femur : being the introduction to a discussion in the Section of Surgery at the Annual Meeting of the British Medical Association held in London, July-August, 1895 / by Sir William Stokes. 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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    nerpssavily close investigation of tninnte patlio- logical variations, is quite in excess of the import- ance of the subject, considered either in a prac- tical or scientific point of view. In this opinion I could not concm’, holding that so long as the dense mists which still unhappily obscure many of these injuries, especially those of the cervix femoris, ren- dering it often difficult, in truth well nigh possible, to estimate and differentiate with exactitude the protean forms of injury that are met with there, so long will it he necessary to continue the system of accurate investigation and close analysis, of which such signal examples have been given us by the splendid work in this direction of Sir Astley Cooper, A. Colles, Dupuytren, Malgaigne, R.W. Smith, Adams, Humphry, Bryant, Gordon, and others. It should ever be borne in mind by those disposed to make little of such investigations that, if a subject is worth working out at all, too minute a considera- tion cannot possibly be given to it; and this would especially apply to the practical aspect of the topic to be discussed to-day, as there are few injuries, or groups of injuries, in which accuracy of diagnosis is more important or more imperatively called for. I am not vain enough to hope that any remarks I may make to-day will materially advance our knowledge or much increase our powers of differentiating the cha- racteristic signs and symptoms of these injuries, and it seems to me my function on the ]>resent occlusion should be mainly to point out the. limits that have been reached, and some of the principal landmarks that have been given for our guidance, trusting that those who follow me may erect others, by which we may hope to advance further.