On chloroform and other anæsthetics: their action and administrationSnow, John
History
On chloroform and other anæsthetics: their action and administration
Snow, John
Anesthetics; Chloroform; Snow, John, 1813-1858
The chloroform has been occasionally blamed by the friends of patients,
or medical men opposed to its use, in cases where patients have died
from puerperal convulsions or other causes, so long after the vapour had
been left off that it could not be the cause of death. The following
case shows how easy it would be to make a mistake with respect to the
effects of chloroform. Soon after its introduction, I was requested to
administer it to the wife of a medical man who had a great desire for it
in her confinement. Mr. Propert was to attend the lady. I was sent for
late one evening, but as there were no pains at the time when I arrived,
I was requested to go to bed in the house. After a time, I was called by
a servant, who told me that the baby was born, and that Mr. Propert was
sent for. I found that the birth had been so sudden that the husband,
who was in the room, could not get to the bed side before the child was
born. Mr. Propert arrived, and I went home, leaving the patient very
well. Mr. Propert informed me, that after I left the patient went into
such a state of syncope as to make him think she was going to die, and
continued so for some time. She ultimately recovered. There was no
hæmorrhage or any other cause to account for the faintness, and I
understood Mr. Propert to say, that if the patient had inhaled
chloroform, he should have blamed it for the condition into which she
lapsed.
THE INHALATION OF CHLOROFORM IN MEDICAL CASES.
_Neuralgia._ When the pain of neuralgia is not extremely severe, it may
be removed by the inhalation of chloroform without causing
unconsciousness; but when it is very severe, it is necessary to make the
patient unconscious before the pain is suspended. In some cases of
neuralgia of the face, the pain is so severe that the signs of it remain
after the patient is rendered unconscious, and only disappear when he is
quite insensible; and then, as the insensibility passes off, the hand is
raised to the face, and the contortions of the features return before
the patient awakes to be aware of his suffering. When the mental branch
of the fifth nerve is affected, the paroxysms of pain are accompanied by
a motion and smacking of the lips. In a hospital patient I have seen
this when he was awake, but in a gentleman only when his consciousness
was removed by the chloroform, and before complete insensibility was
induced; when awake, he restrained the impulse to this kind of motion of
the lips.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account