Surgical uses other than haemostatic of the strong elastic bandage / by Henry A. Martin.

  • Henry A. Martin
Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Surgical uses other than haemostatic of the strong elastic bandage / by Henry A. Martin. 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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    1 have used it in three cases, two in the arm and one, now under treatment, of the leg, to straighten out a bad union of recent fractures, and have succeeded thus in gradually rectifying de- formity for which there seemed no remedy but re-fracture. Rheumatism and Neuralgia.—The application of bands of thin rubber to joints and parts of the body affected with certain forms of rheumatism and neuralgia is not new, but I think that the use of a strong bandage of the same material, capable of exercising graduated and continued pressure on joints and por- tions of the limbs affected in this manner, is original with myself There is no doubt that often chronic pain is the result of effused products of disease, pressing on nervous branches and interfering more or less with the innervation of parts. The constant warmth, moisture, and, above all, pressure produced by the bandage have a most undoubted effect, not only immediately in the manner of a poultice, but permanently by bringing about a rapid and com plete absorption of morbid deposits. Whatever the theory of relief in these cases, I have treated so many rheumatic and neuralgic joints with the most gratifying, immediate, and perma- nent results that I can have no doubt whatever of the value of the method. I have found the elastic bandage a very useful temporary surgical dressing after the reduction of certain dislo- cations of the joints, particularly of the elbow, preventing entirely the tendency to return of displacement, and at the same time permitting use of the limb. I have before alluded to its use in subluxations and their sequelae. In Varicose Veins, as a Substitute for the Laced Stocking.—In a 'previous part,of this paper I have, very fully, alluded to the use of the strong elastic bandage for ulcers of the leg complicated with a varicose condition of the veins, and also of the importance of wearing the bandage in such cases, after cure of the ulceration, for relief of symptoms of the disease of the veins, but more par- ticularly as a preventive of the return of the ulcer. From all this it will be naturally inferred that I also use the bandage in cases of varicose veins of the leg where no ulcer exists. As a substitute for the familiar “ laced stockingI have found the rubber bandage very useful in the palliative treatment of vari- cose veins. The laced stocking, if very well made, and accu- 2*
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