Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition.Thomson, Alexis
Science
Manual of Surgery Volume First: General Surgery. Sixth Edition.
Thomson, Alexis
Surgery
The aneurysm usually springs from the third part of the artery, and
appears as a tense, rounded, pulsatile swelling just above the clavicle
and to the outer side of the sterno-mastoid muscle. It occasionally
extends towards the thorax, where it may become adherent to the pleura.
The radial pulse on the same side is small and delayed. Congestion and
œdema of the arm, with pain, numbness, and muscular weakness, may result
from pressure on the veins and nerves as they pass under the clavicle;
and pressure on the phrenic nerve may induce hiccough. The aneurysm is
of slow growth, and occasionally undergoes spontaneous cure.
The conditions most likely to be mistaken for it are a soft, rapidly
growing sarcoma, and a normal artery raised on a cervical rib.
On account of the relations of the artery and of its branches, treatment
is attended with greater difficulty and danger in subclavian than in
almost any other form of external aneurysm. The available operative
measures are proximal ligation of the innominate, and distal ligation.
In some cases it has been found necessary to combine distal ligation
with amputation at the shoulder-joint, to prevent the collateral
circulation maintaining the flow through the aneurysm. Matas' operation
has been successfully performed by Hogarth Pringle.
#Axillary Aneurysm.#--This is usually met with in the right arm of
labouring men and sailors, and not infrequently follows an injury in the
region of the shoulder. The vessel may be damaged by the head of a
dislocated humerus or in attempts to reduce the dislocation, by the
fragments of a fractured bone, or by a stab or cut. Sometimes the vein
also is injured and an arterio-venous aneurysm established.
Owing to the laxity of the tissues, it increases rapidly, and it may
soon attain a large size, filling up the axilla, and displacing the
clavicle upwards. This renders compression of the third part of the
subclavian difficult or impossible. It may extend beneath the clavicle
into the neck, or, extending inwards may form adhesions to the chest
wall, and, after eroding the ribs, to the pleura.
The usual symptoms of aneurysm are present, and the pressure effects on
the veins and nerves are similar to those produced by an aneurysm of the
subclavian. Intra-thoracic complications, such as pleurisy or pneumonia,
are not infrequent when there are adhesions to the chest wall and
pleura. Rupture may take place externally, into the shoulder-joint, or
into the pleura.
Extirpation of the sac is the operation of choice, but, if this is
impracticable, ligation of the third part of the subclavian may be had
recourse to.
#Brachial aneurysm# usually occurs at the bend of the elbow, is of
traumatic origin, and is best treated by excision of the sac.
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