Diseases and injuries of the eye : their medical and surgical treatment / by George Lawson.
- George Lawson
- Date:
- 1874
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Diseases and injuries of the eye : their medical and surgical treatment / by George Lawson. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.
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![by the finger, one or two streaks of pus or lymph will be often seen in the oculo-palpebral fold. The patient com- plains that the lids are sticky, and that in the morning they are gummed together by dried secretion. On look- ing at the eyes, there is a peculiar sticky and gummy ai^pearance which is quite characteristic of the disease. There is often associated with these symptoms chemosis of the coujunctiva and swelling of the lids. The con- junctiva looks blown up from the serous effusion into the subjacent cellular tissue, sometimes to an extent sufficient to make the cornea appear sunken below it. The coi'nea is clear, and the pupil is active. The rapid action of the ])upil will at once deciie that the inflammation is super- ficial, and that the iris is not afi'ected by it. Catarrhal ophthalmia usually commences in both eyes simultaneouslj', or one eye may be attacked a Httle in ad- vance of th(5 other, but it is seldom that this disease is limited to only the one eye. In this respect catari'hal ophthalmia offers a marked difference from gonorrhoeal ophthalmia, which is generally, in the first instance, strictly confined to the one eye. (See Gonorrhceal Oph- thalmia, page 8.) _ _ _ i Proijnosis.—This affection is usually very amenable to proper treatment, and the eyes will recover without a trace of the disease remaining. But if no treatment be adopted, or unsuitable remedies be used, the conjunctival inflammation may extend to the cornea, and corneitis with superficial or deep ulcerations may follow. Treatment.—The eyes should be bathed every two or three hours, or oftener if the case is severe, with a lotion of alum, or sulphate of zinc and alum (F. 39, 40, 42), taking care that with each application a little is allowed to flow into the eyes. In the intervals between the times for using the lotion, the eyes maybe bathed with cold water, to keep them free from the discharge. A solution of nitrate of silver, gr. 1 or gr. 2, and aqujE 5' 1, is very useful in catarrhal ophthalmia, and especially in those cases where there is chemosis of the conjunctiva and swelling of the lids. Two or three dro]5s should be dropped into the eye twice a day, and every two or three hours, or oftener if necessary, the eyes should be cleansed from discharge by bathing them with cold water. To prevent the gum- ming together of the eyehds during sleep, a little unguent, cetacei should be smeared along their tarsal borders every night. At the commencement of the attack the bowels](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21524646_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
