A rare form of pelvic hæmatocele / by Charles M. MacQuibban and F. Ogston, jun.

  • MacQuibban, Charles M.
Date:
[1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A rare form of pelvic hæmatocele / by Charles M. MacQuibban and F. Ogston, jun. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    tended. There was no hernia. The cervix uteri was pretty far down, but not unusually so for a woman who had borne children. On introducing the catheter, only about a teaspoonful of urine was found in the bladder. She was ordered to take every three hours a tablespoon¬ ful of a mixture containing one drachm of tincture of opium, two drachms of compound spirit of lavender, and water to six ounces ; and to be kept quiet. At i'i 5 A.M. on the 28th, a message was received that she was no better; and when visited about an hour later she was quite conscious, and spoke slowly but distinctly. She complained of blindness or dimness of sight, with dark specks floating before her eyes, and of weakness. She had fainted several timeswhen raised up; had vomited a fluid of a dark coffee-ground colour; the down-bearing pains continued. She had tried to void urine, but had failed to pass any, and the catheter only drew off about a tablespoonful. The gums and lips were of a bluish colour; the skin still cold and clammy. The pulse at the wrist could not now be felt, but it was distinctly perceptible in the neck. At 9-30 A.M., the symptoms were more grave than at last visit ; and she complained of spasmodic twitchings of the arms. At 11 A.M., the skin was warmer; the respirations 44 in the minute ; the pulse not to be felt; the voice husky ; the face swollen ; the pupils dilated. She was conscious and sleepless. The vomiting still continuing. She had voided no urine. 5*30 P.M. The symptoms were the same. 8 P.M. Since last visit, the brain had become affected, slight delirium having set in, though she could be roused to consciousness, when she complained of blindness. The spasms of the arms still continued. She had had a severe convulsion, and thought she was dying. The thirst was still great ; the pains were not so severe ; and vomiting had now ceased. The abdomen was swollen. She died about midnight, after an illness of fifty hours.