Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition.Thomson, Alexis
Science
Manual of Surgery Volume Second: Extremities—Head—Neck. Sixth Edition.
Thomson, Alexis
Surgery
_Adenomas_ originating in the sebaceous or sweat glands are sometimes
multiple, of a purplish colour, and the skin covering them is thin and
glistening. They show a tendency to ulcerate and fungate, giving rise
to a fœtid discharge, and may be mistaken for epithelioma; they are
also liable to become the seat of epithelioma. They are treated by
excision.
Large, flat _papillomas_ or warts may be single or multiple; they are
of slow growth, and as they may also become the starting-point of
epithelioma, they should be removed.
[Illustration: FIG. 178.--Adenoma of Scalp.]
The _plexiform neuroma_ forms a loose soft tumour situated in the
course of one or more branches of the trigeminal nerve, especially
the supra-orbital branch. In its most aggravated form the tumour hangs
over the face or neck in large pendulous masses, and is described as a
_pachydermatocele_ (V. Mott).
A _sarcoma_ usually has its origin in the bones of the skull, and only
implicates the scalp secondarily.
_Epithelioma_ of the scalp may originate in relation to a wart, an
ulcerated wen or sebaceous adenoma, or the cicatrix of a burn. It may
affect comparatively young persons, may spread over a wide area, or
pass deeply and involve the bone. Free and early removal is indicated.
_Rodent cancer_ may originate on the scalp, but usually spreads
thither from the face.
In operating for extensive tumours of the scalp the hæmorrhage is
sometimes formidable. It may be controlled by an elastic tourniquet
applied horizontally round the head, or if, on account of the position
of the tumour or from other causes, this is not practicable, by
ligation or temporary clamping of the external carotid on one or on
both sides.
#Air-containing Swellings#--_Pneumatocele Capitis._--Cases have been
recorded in which, as a result of pathological or traumatic
perforations of the mastoid, and less frequently of the frontal cells,
air has passed under the pericranium and given rise to a tense rounded
tumour, resonant on percussion, and capable of being emptied by firm
pressure. Such swellings exhibit neither pulsation nor fluctuation;
and as they are painless, and give rise to almost no inconvenience,
they do not call for treatment.
_Emphysema of the scalp_ may follow fractures implicating any of the
air sinuses of the skull, the air infiltrating the loose cellular
tissue between the pericranium and the aponeurosis, and on palpation
yielding a characteristic crepitation. It usually disappears in a few
days.
#Vascular Tumours.#--_Nævi_ on the scalp present the same features as
elsewhere. If placed over one of the fontanelles, a nævus may derive
pulsation from the brain, and so simulate a meningocele.
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