The treatment of fractures / by W. L. Estes.
- Estes, William Lawrence, 1855-
- Date:
- [1900]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The treatment of fractures / by W. L. Estes. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.
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![The Setting of a Fracture. ? patient feel cold and weak, and sometimes nauseated. In transporting and caring for such injuries, warm covers should be applied over the patient (not so bulky over the fractured part as to produce pain by pressure), and, when possible, heat in the form of previously-heated blankets, shawls or hot water bottles. If a physician sees the patient early enough, strychnia would be of service, and sometimes morphia hypo- dermically, but no alcohol. Whiskey or brandy is apt to excite the patient afterwards and render setting the bones more difficult. When the patient has reached the place for perma- nent treatment, and has been made warm and as comfortable as possible, the clothing should be re- moved by cutting, not by hauling, or pushing and pulling, as this is very apt to seriously disturb the fracture. After the surgeon has determined the nature of the fracture, he should provide the splints and bandages necessary to make a permanent retention of the frac- tured bones after they shall be set, and the:'1 and not until then proceed to reduce the fracture. [First aid for compound and complicated fractures will be considered later]. The Setting of a Fracture. A surgeon ought to treat every fracture individ- ually. It is as rare to find any two fractures and dis- placements exactly alike as it is to find any two ex- tremities exactly alike. As a nearly invariable rule, however, anaesthesia should be employed during the reduction of a simple* fracture if there be no contra- indication in the general condition of the patient and the heart and lungs are healthy. Reduction should not be attempted until proper splints and bandages are at hand for retaining the fragments in place. Except in some special cases, it is rarely necessary to * It is much easier to reduce and set compound fractures without anesthesia because of the greater injury to the muscles and greater relaxation and the direct manipulation which is possible.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2102537x_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
