Annual report of the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 1873.

  • Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual report of the Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 1873. 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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    The fibrous tumor of the lobe occurred in a negro woman twenty- three years of age ; that removed from the right lobe by means of the usual triangular cuts with the scissors was about an inch in diameter, and included the perforation which had been made for an ear-ring. The cuts were made to follow the outline of the tumor as closely as possible, and the edges brought together by means of straps, uniting by first intention for about a third of their extent, and healing finally with but little deformity. A fibrous tumor of nearly the same size was subsequently removed from the left ear of the same patient by Dr. Shaw. Of the cases of accumulation of cerumen in the meatus in males, 39 occurred in the right ear, 53 in the left ear, and 59 in both ears ; in females, 24 in the right ear, 33 in the left ear, and 27 in both ears. The average age of the cases collectively was 35 years. In the females, as a rule, the trouble had been of short duration, and the accumulated mass was soft and easily removed ; in the males, on the other hand, the cerumen plugs were generally more firmly impacted, and the ce- rumen mingled throughout with fine dust or other foreign matter, which was sufficient, on closer examination, to indicate the occupation of the patient. Such cases occurred principally in coal-heavers and stokers, ma- chinists, wood-turners, street-laborers, and stone-work- ers. The more obstinate cases were found usually in old men of the laboring class in whom there was a ten- dency to eczema of the auricle and meatus; in such cases it was the practice to soak the cerumen plug thoroughly with warm water, and then to pass a flattened probe between the ceruminous mass and the floor of the meatus to the depth of half an inch, thus making an opening for the entrance of the water in syringing.