The vermiform appendix and its diseases / by Duncan Macartney.

  • Macartney, Duncan.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The vermiform appendix and its diseases / by Duncan Macartney. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    part of the appendix, and quite as frequently from its proximal as from its distal portion. The root of the appendix is drained by an anterior and posterior set; the anterior set pass over the anterior surface of the caecum and enter the ileo-colic fold. They pass by the glands in this furrow, and end in glands of the lower ileo-colic group. The posterior vessels pass behind the caecum to the posterior ileo- caecal group. The practical importance of the above- stated facts is striking. We find a large agglomeration of lymphatic glandular tissue devoted to a compara- tively small portion of the alimentary canal. It is evident that this mass of glands is of great import- ance, and that its defensive powers will frequently be called on. The massing together of such numbers of lymphatic glands in this special corner is not a haphazard business; it is only natural to suppose that they are there because their protective work is there to be done. It is natural to suppose that during acute appendicitis some of these glands will be inflamed, though it is certain that it must be extremely rarely that any of these inflamed glands go on to suppuration. It would be interesting in operating on an inflamed but not suppurating appen- dix to make a digital exploration along the line of ileo-colic glands to discover any possible enlargement. The nerve-supply comes from the sympathetic system—the superior mesenteric plexus, the branches of which supply the ileo-colic artery, extending to the appendix. The seat of pain which is most usual is that known as M‘Burney’s point, and is determined by a reflex action. Irritation of the
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