A treatise on the surgical diseases of the eye / by H. Haynes Walton.

  • Walton, H. Haynes (Henry Haynes), 1816-1889.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the surgical diseases of the eye / by H. Haynes Walton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    hurt—is to keep the eyelids closed. By this we exclude the air, ensure moisture and warmth, and maintain the parts in quietude. Anodyne applications, and a strict daily attention to cleanliness, are among the necessaries. The eyeKds^shouJd not] be allowed to get gummed together, that there may be a free exit to any discharges; and this is most certainly best accomplished by ■cutting off the cilia, and keeping the edges greased. I do not think that further topical treatment is available. I suspect that stimulating and astringent ointments and lotions, of all kinds, are injurious, by increasing irritation. If the vitality of a part have been destroyed, or a wound inflicted, a definite process of repair must be passed through, which, I think,[cannot in general be better assisted or directed than by the means mentioned. Bodily rest and attention to constitutional symptoms are too often overlooked, and neglect of them might bring the penalty of prolonged suppuration, or inflammatory action of the entire eyeball. What is to be most feared when the accident is severe, next to the loss of sight, is contraction and adhesion of the eyelids to each other, or to the eyeball; inevitable conditions accordingly as the conjunctiva is lost, or the angles of the eyelids injured. Cicatrization cannot be effected without it; and the quicker this is brought about, the less will be the defect. The prudent course is, I believe, to endeavour to reduce the heaKng process to the shortest limit, and afterwards to attend to the adhesions. The slight injury that particles of melted metal generally inflict is a matter of marvel. I might fill pages with the won- derful escapes that are recorded, the greater number of which relate to the entrance of lead that had moulded itself to the surfaces of the eyeball and to the eyeKds, thereby showing that it had entered the eye in a fluid state. The theory suggested to account for this is, the protection afforded by the evaporation of the fluid on the eye. _ In the last occurrence of the kind that I saw, many of the cilia of both the eyelids were soldered together with a lump of solder and the eye could not be opened till they were cut off ihe edges of the eyeHds were severely singed.]