=Hæmorrhage.= However carefully an operation may be conducted or
whatever material may be employed for ligatures, there is a liability of
bleeding after the patient has been returned to bed. Severe internal
bleeding is usually due to the slipping of a ligature from an ovarian
pedicle, or a uterine artery: it may come from a vaginal artery,
especially in total hysterectomy, and occasionally from a vessel in an
adhesion which has been missed in the course of the operation, for
oozing which is scarcely appreciable when a patient is collapsed may
become very free when reaction occurs.
Severe internal bleeding is manifested by very obvious signs: pallor,
cold skin, rapid but feeble pulse, restlessness, and sighing
respiration. When these symptoms are manifested the wound must be
reopened, the blood and clot removed, and the bleeding point secured. It
often happens, where the bleeding is due to the slipping of a ligature
from the uterine or ovarian artery, that by the time the surgeon reopens
the wound the patient is so bloodless that there is difficulty in
determining the source of the bleeding. In very bad cases it is a wise
plan to arrange for an assistant to perform the intravenous infusion
whilst the surgeon deals with the bleeding vessel. (See Vol. I, p.
405.)
Intravenous injection is the best method of treating patients when the
loss of blood has been great. It is unwise to transfuse more than three
pints into the veins, or the lungs will become waterlogged and the
patient will be later in great peril. When the loss is moderate in
amount and the patient is not greatly enfeebled, a pint or more of
saline solution may be poured into the abdomen before closing the
incision, and this may be supplemented by the administration of six or
more ounces of the solution by the anus at two-hourly intervals until
the force of the circulation is restored.
In some instances the subcutaneous injection of normal saline solution
may be employed. A suitable region is the loose tissue under and around
the breasts. When this method is adopted the skin should be rendered
antiseptic, otherwise troublesome abscesses and cellulitis will arise in
the subcutaneous tissue at the situation where the saline solution has
been injected.
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