A Treatise on Gunshot WoundsLongmore, T. (Thomas), Sir
History
A Treatise on Gunshot Wounds
Longmore, T. (Thomas), Sir
Gunshot wounds
has been torn off and the shaft contused by the stroke of a bullet,
severe inflammation will follow, the medullary canal become filled with
pus, and death ensue from pyemia. The attention of surgeons has been
particularly called to the various circumstances producing inflammation
and suppuration of the medullary tissues—osteo–myelitis—in long bones
after gunshot injuries by M. Jules Roux of Toulon.[10]
=Upper Extremity.=—Fractures of the bones of the arm are well known to
be very much less dangerous than like injuries in the corresponding
bones of the lower extremity. Unless extremely injured by a massive
projectile, or longitudinal comminution exist to a great extent,
especially if also involving a joint, or the state of the patient’s
health be very unfavorable, attempts should always be made to preserve
the upper extremity after a gunshot wound. In the Director–General’s
History of the Crimean Campaign, the recoveries without amputation
are shown to be, in the humerus, 26·6; radius and ulna, 35·0; radius
only, 70·0; ulna only, 70·0 per cent. of cases treated. The proportion
of deaths in these cases was only 2·3 per cent. Although not the
result of gunshot, a remarkable case, published by Staff–Surgeon Dr.
Williamson, by whom the operation was performed, serves to illustrate
how extensively bone may be removed from the upper arm, and a useful
member be still retained. The details will be found in his Notes on
the Wounded from the Mutiny in India. The whole of the ulna, (not
merely sequestra, but also the new bone which had formed around them,
the object of which proceeding is not stated,) two inches of the
humerus, and the head and neck of the radius were removed; and, four
months after the operation, the man could “bend his forearm, raise his
hand behind his head, lift a 28–lb. weight from the ground, pronate
and supinate the hand, and use his fingers well.” Of 194 wounds and
injuries of the upper extremity among men returned from the late mutiny
in India, 100 are recorded by Dr. Williamson to have been sent to duty
regular or modified, 67 invalided from the service, 1 died, and 26 were
still under treatment.
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