The treatment of pelvic inflammations through the vagina.

  • Pryor, William Rice, 1857 or 1858-1904.
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The treatment of pelvic inflammations through the vagina. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    Trcatinoiit.—Endocervicitis should be vigorously treated. The best application is tincture of iodin, a powerful diffusible antiseptic and astringent. A silver applicator is wrapped with cotton and dipped in the iodin. It is then passed to but not through the internal OS. The cervical speculum should not be used. The cervix, if markedly congested, should be punctured with a scalpel in a half dozen places to produce bleeding, and this should be promoted by hot vaginal douches of ^ ot I per cent. lysol every four hours, continued for one day. The iodin is to be applied every other day except in gonorrhea, and then once each day. Usually, in a few days this treatment will subdue all symptoms of inflam- mation. If the cervix be the seat of polypi, or is hyper- trophied or markedly cystic, it should be amputated after all acute symptoms have subsided. During treatment coition is prohibited. The latency of gonorrlieal and septic endocervicitis and the fact that either form of infection may exist witJwiit pro- ducing patliological discharges must be constantly before the physician zvhen he wishes to nse the sound, or to operate upon the cervix. In any case giving the history of a pre- vious purulent discharge or any form of pelvic inflamma- tion, the introduction of the sound through the unster- ilized cervical canal is positively contra-indicated. The application of tincture of iodin to the cervix will super- ficially sterilize it for the use of the sound. If cystic degejieration is present the cysts should be pricked and the pits touched with tr. of iodin. If cervical polypi are present they may be removed without narcosis by using cocain. An applicator wrapped with cotton is dipped in lO per cent, cocain solution and passed into the cervix. It is left there five minutes. The polypus is then seized by Luer's forceps and twisted off The bleeding is usu- ally trivial. If of moment, the cervix is steadied by bullet forceps and iodin painted over the oozing surface, after which the cervix and vagina are packed for twenty- four hours with iodoform gauze. These polypi, although not of cancerous nature, are apt to recur, and it is there-