Observations on diseases of the spinal marrow / by John Abercrombie.

Date:
1817
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on diseases of the spinal marrow / by John Abercrombie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    In the second week of his illness, the pains in the head nearly ceased, but the pain of the neck became more severe, and extend- ed farther down along the spine. It continued tor several days to extend farther and farther down, till at last it fixed, with intense severity, at the lower part of the spine, from which it extended round the body, particularly to the spinous processes of the ilia. From the time when the lower part of the spine became so much affected, he never complained of his head, and seldom of the upper parts of the spine; but he became affected with great un- easiness over the whole abdomen, and great pain and difficulty in passing his urine. From the violence of these complaints, his sufferings about the 15th became extreme ; he could not lie in bed for five minutes at a time, but was generally walking about his house in extreme agitation, grasping the lower part of his back with both his hands, and gnashing his teeth from the intensity of pain :—he had no interval of ease, and was some- times incoherent and unmanageable. On the 16th, he went to the warm bath, walking down three stairs, and into an adjoining street, with little assistance. After his return, he thought him- self somewhat relieved, but the pain soon returned with its for- mer severity, accompanied by great pain in the belly, severe dy- suria, confusion of thought, and some difficulty of articulation. The pulse was about 100; the bowels were easily kept open by the ordinary purgatives. On the 17th, the symptoms were una- bated. In the course of that day some squinting was observed, but it was not permanent. His speech was considerably affected; there were convulsive twitches of the face, and some difficulty of swal- lowing. The pulse was from 120 to 130. At night, some blood was taken from his arm, after which he became easier, and lay in bed for some time. After a short time, however, he got up again, and continued till three o’clock in the morning, sitting up, or walking about the house, tearing off his clothes, delirious and unmanageable. About three o’clock, he suddenly threw back his head with great violence, and fell into a state of coma, in which he continued for two hours, and died. No paralytic af- fection had been observed at any period of the disease,—no diffi- culty of breathing,—no vomiting,—and no convulsion, except the twitches of the face on the 17th. The pulse had varied from 90 to 130, and was reported to have been generally small and irregular. The bowels were easily kept open ; but the pain of his back was much increased by going to stool. Two days before his death he had several attacks of shivering. Much purulent mat- ter was discharged from the left ear during his illness, and an in- named tumour had been formed behind it. The practice that • was employed consisted of general and topical bleeding, purga-