Volume 2
Elements of the theory and practice of physic, designed for the use of students / By George Gregory.
- George Gregory
- Date:
- 1829
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Elements of the theory and practice of physic, designed for the use of students / By George Gregory. Source: Wellcome Collection.
521/572 page 517
![#;.. When the accumulation of water becomes so great as to in- terfere with. the breathing, or to create distress by distension of the abdominal parietes, recourse must be had to the paracen-_ desis abdominis. It is a commonly received opinion, that tapping once performed, is a complete bar to the permanent notion, and I am sure it has often proved hurtful by inducing practitioners to delay the operation too long. I am far from wishing to advocate a hasty employment of the trocar, but I have seen more danger from inordinate distension than I could ever trace to tapping. It should be tried in all cases. where the cea ing is considerable, and. where the ordinary internal means haye no effect; then the removal of the excessive distension has an immediate result favourable to the operation of remedies, and to the comfort of the patient: sometimes the operation has been performed even-six times before the patient began to feel the effect of the remedies: When the patient is troubled with gripes, anxiety or spasms, either after tapping or the opeigars an emetic, Munro recommends an anodyne as most effectual: Kx. Aq. menth. piperit. simp. unc. i. cinnamon spir. unc. dimid. tinct. castor. drach. i. tinct. thebaic. gutt. xi. tartar. lixiv. serup. 1. syrup. alth. drach, i. misce pro haustu vespertino. vel R. Aq. menth. simp. unc. i. menth. piperit. spir. unc. dimid. tinct. thebaic. gutt. xl. vin. antimon. gutt. 1. syrup. ex. althe. drach. ii. cap. h. s.* Storck mentions an instance in which twelve gallons anda half were drawn off by the paracentesis; ‘it has been repeated forty or fifty times upon the same patient and oftener. C. DIAGNOSIS OF HYDROTHORAX. 2. HyprotHorax, or dropsy of the thoracic cavity. The diagnostic symptoms of this form of dropsy are very fallacious. times a day giving it to the extent of two grains in a day; it produces great watery discharges, when other means have failed; united with small doses of cream of tartar it has a most excellent effect. ‘©The sensible effects of the elaterium are, severe and constant nausea, frequent watery stools, and, in considerable doses, vomiting. It does not ‘uniformly increase the urine, and for this reason it is generally proper to com- bine it with more certain diuretics. After continuing the use of the medicine for some days, the patient will sometimes bear a considerable increase of the dose. I have gone to the extent of five or six grains a day in-this manner, without producing any inconvenience. But it is always proper to begin with the lowest dose, which is the sixteenth part of a grain of the extract.” Emetics are also recommended by Munro, provided the head or lungs be _not too much affected; they excite the absorbents, and promote the discharge pulv. Di. tartrat. antimon. puly. gr. ii. m. * Sydenham recommends this practice highly, more particularly in_ those cases where the abdomen is much distended; in the intervals of vomiting he states great quantities of water are often evacuated:+ If the patient has been liable to hemorrhages, excessive dyspnea, mies: be has a rupture, or is excessively weak, they shoul Lhe be used. | Cc. * Munro. . ss die ae + Thomas, p. 1039. ee Pwiard onthe Dropsy, page 196. Lond. 1765. Vou. I].—66 ' aie ai | ub. in : * ae ‘ &](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b3328975x_0002_0521.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
