A practical and pathological inquiry into the sources and effects of derangements of the digestive organs, embracing dejection, and some other affections of the mind / by William Cooke.

  • Cooke, William, 1785-1873.
Date:
1828
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical and pathological inquiry into the sources and effects of derangements of the digestive organs, embracing dejection, and some other affections of the mind / by William Cooke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    89/318 (page 73)
    sulphate of magnesia should be given in gruel to keep the bowels open, and other saline medicine taken frequently. On the following day the lividness had decreased, but the other symptoms were as acute as before. The pain in voiding urine and feces was almost insupportable. The same plan was continued, adding after some days a little decoction of bark, and in about a fortnight she had reco- vered from this affection. From this time she continued to take the salts in gruel occasionally. The old disease pro- gressively diminished, and by the beginning of December she considered herself nearly exempt from it. She could take exercise freely, and suffered very slight inconvenience from the side. The great improvement derived from the setting up of this new disease, induced me to hope that by seizing the advantage gained, and instituting a means of permanent counter-irritation, in a manner the least incommo- ding to the patient, I might carry on the process of restora- tion, if it should appear requisite. Early in the following year I found that we were again stationary; indeed, the patient became more the subject of palpitation, which was violent as well as frequent. She felt some uneasiness again in the side, and though the bulk was greatly lessened, the enlargement was still perceptible. A seton v/as therefore inserted just upon the edge of the ribs. No inconvenience resulted from the insertion except that the sm.all vessels continued to bleed from mid-day till the middle of the night, v/hen, growing faint from the loss of blood, I was cp-1] d vp- Pressure and cold applications immediatel}- ancr-'od the haemorrhage. As soon as p” wu-ation was fairly established, it was evident that the disease was again declining. The palpitation subsided, and pain in the tumefied spleen ceased. No- thing was done in the way of medicine, except by taking an occasional dose oi opening pills. The progress of amendment was slow, but it was steady; and in the course of a few months my young friend regained a measure of health that had long been unknown to her. The functions of the uterus, and of all the other organs, were performed with regularity;