Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble itAnstie, Francis Edmund
Science
Neuralgia and the diseases that resemble it
Anstie, Francis Edmund
Neuralgia
That there may be such a thing as enteralgia, of really neuralgic
character, I do not deny; on the contrary, so far as regards the rectum,
I have myself seen such a case. But true neuralgia of the large bowel is
exceedingly uncommon; what goes by the name is usually either colic from
local irritation of the viscus; or a mere hysterical hyperæsthesia of
the lining membrane, which is one of the occasional phenomena of spinal
irritation; or else it is a case of neuralgia of the abdominal wall,
such as is included in the description of "lumbo-abdominal neuralgia,"
in Part I. of this work.
There is no occasion to describe minutely the symptoms of so familiar a
disease as lead-colic, or as colic from irritation by indigestible food,
when they occur in their typical forms. In the former case the marked
constipation which ushers in the attack of pain, and the peculiar
greenish-yellow sallowness nearly always seen in the countenance, ought
to be sufficient to direct examination to the gums (for the blue line)
and inquiry as to any possible impregnation of the system with lead,
owing either to the nature of the patient's occupation, or to some
accidental entry of the poison into the drinking-water, or its
inhalation from the walls of newly-painted rooms, etc. In the latter
case, the fact that the attack of colic was shortly preceded by a meal,
either of obviously indigestible food, or too copious in quantity and
heterogeneous in kind, or too hastily eaten without sufficient
mastication, supplies a clew.
But there are a few cases representing minor degrees of either of these
kinds of colic, that are much less easy to diagnose distinctly.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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