Memoir on the radical cure of club-foot / by H. Scoutetten ; translated from the French by F. Campbell Stewart.

  • Scoutetten, H. (Henri), 1799-1871.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Memoir on the radical cure of club-foot / by H. Scoutetten ; translated from the French by F. Campbell Stewart. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    greater degree of atrophy of the leg, than any of the other fornns of the disease. All the cases of calcanian club-foot that have come under my observation were congenital; at first they were trifling, but the de- formity increased with the age of the patient. The knowledge of the foregoing anatomical and pathological facts will soon enable us to establish such rules as are indispensable for obtaining a radical cure of the malady. ETIOLOGY. What are the causes that give rise to the developement of club- foot? This is an important question, and one which has received various explanations. Ambrose Pare' has no hesitation in asserting that the deformity is occasioned by the mother's remaining for too long a time seated with her limbs crossed ; or the nurse in carrying •the child, by too long pressure from retaining it in one position, occasions the turning of the feet. Benjamin Bell* admits that a mal-formation of the articulations may occasionally give rise to the disease, but he considers this as a very rare cause. He is of opi- nion that the contraction of the muscles most frequently occasions it. But the chief cause, according to this author, is the form of the leg. When it is curved outwards, says he, the toes are inverted, and the side of the foot is turned under, or, if the curvature of the leg be considerable, nearly the whole sole of the foot will be turned upwards, and at every attempt at locomotion, the instep will press on the ground ; when, however, on the contrary, the bones of the leg are curved inwards, the toes and sole of the foot will be thrown outwards and upwards. This is an error on the part of Mr. Bell, which is proved by every day's experience ; it is quite common to meet with men having their limbs singularly distorted inwards and outwards, whose feet present none of the characters of club-foot. Duverney' thought that the deformity was caused principally by an unequal degree of tension of the muscles and ligaments ; for, says he, as these muscles and ligaments are so preternaturally stretched, they draw the foot towards them, whilst the opposing muscles and ligaments being to a certain extent in a state of relaxa- tion can do naught, and are compelled to yield to whatever vicioi]s direction the foot may take. This, we think, is looking at one side of the question only : it is, however, an important step towards the truth. Scarpa having congenital deformities only in view thinks ' Op. cit. p. 578. • Cours complel de chirurgie, trad, de Bosquillon ; torn, vi, page 168. • Trait6 des maladies des os; torn. ii. chap. 3.