Elephantiasis Arabum of the right inferior extremity : successfully treated by ligature of the femoral artery / by J.M. Carnochen.

  • John Murray Carnochan
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Elephantiasis Arabum of the right inferior extremity : successfully treated by ligature of the femoral artery / by J.M. Carnochen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    In the following case which came under my management, I resorted to a method of treatment which, as far as I know, is entirely novel, and which, both for this reason and because it terminated in the perfect restoration of the diseased and cumbrous limb to its normal condition and functions, I have thought deserving of publicity. The annexed drawing of the limb of the patient, taken from nature, gives an accurate representation of the disease. Case.—Charles Roller, of lymphatic temperament, and short stature, set. 27, born in Aix-la-Chapelle—occupation, mer¬ chant, left his home in December, 1849, landed in New-York in February 1851, went thence to Connecticut, where for eight months he worked in a factory, standing during his hours of labor; thence went to Virginia, where he worked on a farm for about six months, at the expiration of which period he was taken with fever, of an intermittent character. Up to that time, he had always been in good health. During the fever, the inguinal glands on the right side be¬ came swollen and painful; the swelling and pain extending in the course of the femoral vessels as far as the knee. The pain was followed by swelling and redness of the thigh down to the knee. From the knee, the pain and swelling continued to ex¬ tend downwards as far as the toes ; being, at this time confined chiefly to the portions of the limb along the course of the sa¬ phena vein, and also of the posterior tibial vessels. The red¬ ness and tumefaction here, as in the thigh, was preceded by deep-seated pain. The tumefaction of the limb continued to increase ; while, at the same time, febrile exacerbations occurred at intervals, varying from two to six days. After a period of about six weeks from the commencement of the disease, the fever entirely disappeared, and by this time, also, the pain and redness had entirely ceased ; the limb, however, remaining hard, swollen and rough, and presenting, in a marked degree, the peculiar characteristics of elephantiasis Arabum, in the chronic period of the disease. From this time forward, the hardness and intumescence gradually increased, and the limb became so cumbersome, that the patient was obliged to give