Atlas and epitome of operative ophthalmology / by O. Haab ; edited by G. E. de Schweinitz.
- Otto Haab
- Date:
- 1905
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Atlas and epitome of operative ophthalmology / by O. Haab ; edited by G. E. de Schweinitz. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)
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![complete rest during the first day is desirable. The patient himself will realize the importance of such pre- caution better if the rest begins immediately after the operation and he is not allowed to walk about for a time before he begins his rest in bed. In my private clinic cataract extraction and iridectomy are invariably per- formed in the patient's own room, and subsequently the latter remains quietly in his bed. This was also the practice of my esteemed master, Horner, both in his clinic and private work. It is possible that this practice is in part responsible for the fact, which has always been a source of personal gratification, that during the twenty- seven years of operative experience (including the time when I was an assistant to Horner) I have had but 1 case—two years ago—of that frightful intra-ocular hem- orrhage, which so treacherously destroys the eye imme- diately or soon after cataract operations. [An operating chair or table, the height or inclination of which can be altered to suit conditions, and the imme- diate surroundings of which can be maintained in surgical cleanliness, is preferred by the majority of surgeons. From it the patient can be lifted readily to the bed he afterward occupies without deleterious effort on his part. —Ed.] It is not necessary to darken the room of a patient recently operated upon. All that is necessary is to arrange the shutters so as to bar out any glaring light that would be equally unpleasant to the normal eye. It is important, however, to see that the ventilation in the rooms is ade- quate, because the patients are often old and their respira- tion is insufficient, so that oxygenation and metabolism are incompletely performed. The enforced rest during the first period should be made more bearable to a patient who has been through an operation for cataract or glaucoma by giving him an electric bell to hold in his hand ; in this way we may guard against fright, which in many cases is, perhaps, the precursor of post-operative delirium, especially when](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21286826_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
