On puerperal convulsions / by Robert Dyce.

  • Dyce, Robert, 1798-1869.
Date:
[1868]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On puerperal convulsions / by Robert Dyce. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the nape, and five grains of calomel, with a grain and a half of opium, to be given immediately. May 6th. She was quite conscious this morning. She made no complaint but of thirst. A senna draught was ordered to be given immediately ; the room to be darkened ; the head kept cool by cold cloths , and the diet to be gruel and tea. The lochia were moderate She passed urine freely ; it was not examined. There was some milk in the mammae. May 7th and 8th. She was going on well ; had no headache nor complaint. She had plenty of milk, and was nursing her child. i his patient remained for a .longer time in a half-conscious state than any that I have treated ; and I am satisfied that had she lost more blood (perhaps a few ounces would have sufficed), instead of the blister, she might have been sooner restored. Case viii.—Convulsions Four Hours after Delivery; First Pregnancy ; both Mother and Child saved. Mrs. B., aged 23, a tall, rather robust female, on the evening before her confinement, May 4th, 1853, while out visiting, was suddenly seized with agonising pain at the pit of the stomach,'which made her writhe in bed. I he spot was tender on pressure, and felt tense ; her pulse was calm ; she made no other complaint. She wanted three weeks of her full time. Anodynes by the mouth, mustard-poultices, and hot laudanum and fomentations, failed to afford her the slightest relief. She was then bled to twenty ounces, and took thirty drops of laudanum in peppermint-water. The relief from the bleeding, even while flowing, was immediate and permanent and she slept well. . Next morning she took a dose of castor-oil Soon after its operation, she had pains which she mistook for gripes. I did not, therefore, see her until nearly 2 p.m. At 3 pm the child was born alive and well. She slept for an hour after the labour, and was in all respects comfortable ; but at 7 in the evening she complained to her mother that she could not see clearly and before five minutes she fell into a violent convulsion. I saw her in a few minutes, and bled her immediately to nearly thirty ounces. She gradually recovered consciousness, but remained nearly blind In an hour afterwards, however, she was quite herself, with the exception of vision, which was still imperfect. I was perparing for a second bleeding, when she fixed her eyes suddenly and became again convulsed. Ihis attack was of much longer continuance. At first, her features and limbs were rigid, swollen, and nearly black ; after a little, she became very restless and violent and could not be controlled, throwing off the bed-clothes, and striking out with her feet and hands. The vein was again opened ; and, when nearly the same quantity had been taken, she all at once became quiet and pale, and the pulse fell so low that a few spoonfuls of brandy were forced down her throat by the nurse, while 1 tied up her arm. She almost
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