On the successful treatment of 'hammer-toe' by the subcutaneous division of the lateral ligaments / by William Adams.

  • William Adams
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the successful treatment of 'hammer-toe' by the subcutaneous division of the lateral ligaments / by William Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    [Reprinted from the * Medical Society's Proceedings’ Vol. X/.] OX THE SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF “HAMMER- TOE” BY THE SUBCUTANEOUS DIVISION OF THE LATERAL LIGAMENTS. By Wm. Adams, F.R.C.S. Me. President and Gentlemen,—This evening I propose to describe a subcutaneous operation which I have practised success- fully many years, for the relief of contraction with deformity, usually affecting the second toe, and well known under the name of “hammer-toe,” by which Sir A. Cooper described it. Why so designated it is difficult to explain, though possibly as the ex- tremity of the contracted toe, wedged in between the great toe and third toe, is usually in contact with, the ground, and becomes flattened and expanded, some fancied resemblance to a hammer- head may have been traced. Essentially it is an hereditary affection, frequently traceable through two or three generations, and when existing in a severe degree in one member of a family, it may often be found, though to a less extent, in the other children. It is often symmetrical, and some- times equally severe in both feet, but generally the contraction is much less confirmed in one foot than the other. Occasionally