On amputation at the ankle-joint, according to the method of Professor Syme / by Glascott R. Symes.

  • Symes, Glascott R.
Date:
[1864]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On amputation at the ankle-joint, according to the method of Professor Syme / by Glascott R. Symes. 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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    with which the operation was completed; but Avhat isSs^ilhmore satisfactory to relate is the (to me at least) almost unexpected result. Within a few hours after the operation all pain in the eyeball had ceased; on the second day the patient could open his eye perfectly well; and at the end of a fortnight he discontinued his attendance at hospital, being perfectly free from pain, and, with the exception of a slight haziness of the lens, having an exceedingly useful eye. The question then naturally arises—can the simple operation of division of the ciliary muscle and ligament be substituted for the more serious one of iridectomy? Mr. Hancock, who, I believe, was the first to propose this operation, answers “Yes.” But I cannot help thinking that there are many cases in which it would be found inadequate; for instance, in disease of the choroid and iris with exclusion of the pupil, in which iridectomy has proved of such signal value, it is plain that division of the ciliary muscle could be of no avail; but in many other forms of disease, for the cure of which iridectomy has been proposed, I think we might, with advantage, substitute the simpler operation, the performance of which would not prevent the subsequent performance of iridectomy, should it fail to yield a satisfactory result. Art. VI.—On Amputation at the Ankle-joint, according to the Method of Professor Syme. By Glascott R. Symes, one of the Surgeons of Dr. Steevens’ Hospital, Dublin. There is, probably, no surgical operation concerning the perform- ance of which so much difference of opinion exists as with regard to Syme’s amputation at the ankle joint. It was first performed by Mr. Syme in 1842, and by many other surgeons since then. One would imagine that after the test of twenty-one years it would be accepted or rejected by the surgical profession; but this is not the case. At the present day, even, some are found who strenu- ously advocate its merits; and some who as energetically oppose it. In the cases of excision of the knee, and ovariotomy, I can remember the time that they were considered unjustifiable operations; now, they are regarded as legitimate proceedings, owing to the successful and startling results of the operations. VOL. XXXVII., NO. 73, N. 8. F
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