The Surgery of the Skull and BrainRawling, Louis Bathe
Science
The Surgery of the Skull and Brain
Rawling, Louis Bathe
Brain -- Surgery; Skull -- Surgery
=Hæmorrhage from the dural vessels.= In this case the bleeding may occur
from three sources, meningeal veins--often of considerable size when
related to neighbouring tumour-formation--the middle meningeal artery,
and the venous sinuses of the brain.
Hæmorrhage from meningeal veins may be arrested by one or other of the
following methods:--
1. Gentle pressure as applied either by dry gauze, or wet gauze soaked
in saline solution at a temperature between 110 and 115 degrees
Fahrenheit.
2. The application of a piece of muscle to the bleeding-point. This
method was, I believe, first introduced by Sir Victor Horsley. Some
muscle is usually available for the purpose, usually the temporal
muscle. A small portion of muscle is snipped off, spread out as a flat
muscular pad, the bleeding area dried, and the graft quickly applied. It
soon adheres, and usually arrests the hæmorrhage.
3. The application of a ligature. This method is placed last, being the
most difficult. It is usually necessary to underrun the bleeding-point
with a fine needle threaded with the finest of silk. It presents the
disadvantage in that the needle may perforate the dura mater and
puncture one of the superficial cerebral veins.
[Illustration: FIG. 6. CUSHING’S CLIPS. A, The holder of the clips; B, A
clip ready to be applied; C, Two clips applied to the middle meningeal
artery.]
Hæmorrhage from the middle meningeal artery may be controlled by
ligature or torsion, and added to these methods we have one other,
recently introduced by Cushing--silver wire ‘clips’. These clips are
U-shaped, loaded on a magazine, picked up as required in the jaws of a
specially indented forceps, and clipped on to the vessel--usually one on
either side of the bleeding-point.
Hæmorrhage from venous sinuses is dealt with on p. 150.
=Hæmorrhage from the superficial vessels of the brain.= This form of
hæmorrhage, one of the most troublesome complications arising in
head-operations, most commonly results from hasty or careless opening of
the dura mater. Thus, when the dura is incised in a case of greatly
increased intracranial pressure, the brain herniates suddenly outwards,
and the incautious use of the knife will damage one of the dilated
superficial cortical veins. The dura should always be opened with the
greatest care, the knife being passed lightly over the membrane till the
pia-arachnoid is exposed, when the dural margins are lifted up with
small tenaculum forceps and the membrane slit up with blunt-pointed
scissors or on a grooved director.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account