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
(12) _Carotid arterio-venous aneurism_.--Wounded at Paardeberg.
Aperture of _entry_ (Mauser), at the posterior border of the
left sterno-mastoid, 1 inch above the clavicle; _exit_, near
the posterior border of the right sterno-mastoid, 2 inches from
the sterno-clavicular joint. The injury was followed by very
free haemorrhage, mainly from the wound of entry, some 'quarts'
of blood escaping; at any rate his clothes were saturated. The
voice was hoarse and weak, and there was much difficulty in
swallowing; for the first twenty-four hours he could swallow
nothing, but gradual improvement took place. The patient was
carried two miles to the Field hospital, and three days later
travelled 36-40 miles in a bullock waggon to Modder River.
Thence he travelled to Orange River 55 miles by train on the
next day. A swelling was first noted when the wound was dressed
some seven days after the injury. No evidence was ever existent
of gross damage to either trachea or oesophagus beyond the
initial dysphagia. The hoarseness of voice due to left
laryngeal paralysis slowly improved, and was probably the
effect of concussion or contusion of the left recurrent
laryngeal nerve. During the patient's stay at Orange River a
large pulsating swelling with a strong thrill developed. This
was at first diffuse, but under the influence of rest it
steadily contracted and localised. During this period the
patient was seen several times by Mr. Cheatle, who noted
considerable temporary enlargement of the thyroid gland.
At the end of eight weeks he had been allowed up some days, and
travelled 570 miles to Wynberg. The aneurism was about 1-1/2
inch in diameter, smooth and rounded, extending just beneath
the left clavicle and nearly the whole width of the
sterno-mastoid, but well defined in all directions. There was
well-marked expansile pulsation, purring thrill along the
jugular vein and over the tumour, and loud machinery murmur
widely diffused along the whole neck and into the thorax. The
voice was still weak and husky, but there was no dysphagia or
dyspnoea. The left pupil was larger than the right.
The patient acquired enteric fever at Wynberg and when
convalescent was sent to Netley, whence he returned home. The
aneurism caused little discomfort. It may possibly have been of
the inferior thyroid artery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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