Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small CalibreMakins, George Henry
History
Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900: Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre
Makins, George Henry
Gunshot wounds; South African War, 1899-1902; Surgery, Military
Six months later, a small sac still exists beneath the sterno-mastoid.
The pulse still reaches 110-120 in pace. The purring thrill is very
slight. The condition gives rise to little or no trouble. Pulsation is
strong in the external carotid artery, there is little in the common
carotid. The voice is strong and good. This aneurism is either at the
bifurcation of the common carotid, or on the immediate commencement of
the internal carotid. Ligature of the external carotid will probably
cure it.
(11) _Arterio-venous aneurism, probably affecting both
carotids._ Wounded at Paardeberg. _Entry_ (Mauser), at dimple
of chin immediately below mandibular symphysis. _Exit_, at
margin of right trapezius, the track crossing the carotids
about the level of normal bifurcation. The patient was lying on
his back with the head down when struck. Some haemorrhage from
the exit wound occurred at the time, and later on the way to
Jacobsdal this was so profuse as to be nearly fatal. A
considerable haemorrhage also occurred on the tenth day. The
patient made the journey to Modder River safely, and was then
under the charge of Mr. Cheatle. A large diffuse pulsating
swelling developed on the right side of the neck, with
well-marked thrill and machinery murmur. During the next three
weeks the swelling steadily contracted, and the patient was
sent down to the Base one month after receiving the wound, when
the condition was as follows. There is no evidence of any
fracture of the jaw. On the right side of the neck a large
aneurism fills the carotid triangle, extending from the
mid-line backwards to the margin of the trapezius, and from the
level of the top of the larynx upwards to the margin of the
mandible. The wall is fairly firm, pulsation is both visible
and palpable, and a well-marked thrill and machinery murmur are
present. The latter annoys him by its buzzing when the head
rests on the right side. The pupils are equal. Pulse somewhat
irritable, about 100. The voice is weak and husky, and there is
difficulty in swallowing solids. The actual swelling is
somewhat remarkable in outline, on the one hand following up
the course of the external carotid and facial arteries, and on
the other extending backwards in the line of the wound track
towards the exit. The patient was kept on his back with
sandbags around the head during the next fortnight. For the
first eight days such change as occurred was in the direction
of localisation and contraction, but during the last six,
evident extension occurred both backwards and downwards; this
extension was accompanied by severe pain in the cutaneous
cervical nerve area of the neck. The larynx became pushed over
3/4 of an inch to the left of the median line, and the
extension beneath the sterno-mastoid downwards raised a doubt
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