The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800Buck, Albert H. (Albert Henry)
History
The growth of medicine from the earliest times to about 1800
Buck, Albert H. (Albert Henry)
Medicine -- History
There are many places in Guy’s treatise where his description of a
surgical condition, or of the proper measures to adopt for the relief
or cure of such condition, would doubtless prove interesting to our
readers, and would in any event aid them materially in forming an
independent judgment as to the man’s character in general and also
with regard to his qualifications as a surgeon. But all of these
descriptions, when rendered in their entirety into English, occupy much
space, and for this reason I shall be obliged to furnish here merely a
few extracts from some of the more interesting portions of the text.
In the chapter which Guy devotes to wounds of nerves, cords and
ligaments--all of which structures were classed by him, as well as by
Galen, as belonging to the category of nerves--this author divides them
into punctured and incised wounds, bruises and concussions. As to the
first variety he says that they may be divided into closed punctured
and open punctured wounds.
In the incised wounds two kinds may be distinguished: those in
which the nerve is incised in the direction of its length and
those in which the cut is made across the fibres. A further
subdivision is practicable, viz., into wounds accompanied by
more or less destruction of the substance of the nerve or its
envelopes, and those in which such loss has not occurred. Among
other differences worthy of mention are these: pain, spasmodic
phenomena, and abscess formation are present in certain cases
and absent in others. From all of which symptoms useful
indications as to the treatment needed may be deduced.
In the section relating to the treatment of such traumatic affections
of nerves, Guy makes the remark that the measures called for are, for
the most part, the same as those required for wounds involving simply
the fleshy parts of the body.
The element of pain, however, is one of the factors which
distinguish wounds of a nerve from ordinary flesh wounds, and
it may necessitate some slight modification of the treatment.
Aside from this, one of the first things that should be done is
to remove from the wound all foreign substances; after which
the edges of the cavity should be brought together and held
firmly in this position by appropriate means. Last of all, care
should be taken to protect the parts. These are the general
principles which are to guide the surgeon’s action. As to the
special details, they must depend upon the different conditions
presented by each individual case. Thus, for example, if we are
dealing with a punctured wound of a nerve, there will be no
edges of an excavation to bring together.
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