Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, Eighth Annual Meeting, Newport, July, 1871.
- American Ophthalmological Society
- Date:
- 1871
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society, Eighth Annual Meeting, Newport, July, 1871. 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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![of the occip]to-frontal muscle drawing upon the skin. There was no impairment of vision, nor any restriction of any of the movements of the eye. The case was evidently one of com- plete detachment of the tendon of the levator, without other injury of importance. I decided to make an attempt to find the severed tendon, and reunite it to the tarsal cartilage. The operation was performed March 19th, with the important as- sistance of Dr. T. F. Prewitt. •An incision, of rather more than an inch in length, was made through the skin along the upper border of the lid, and the dissection extended through the suhcutaneons fatty tissue in a direction nearly backward, so as to avoid opening the conjunctival sac. The upper surface of the eyeball was thus reached without having encountered any fibres of the orbicu- larisjmuscle, or in fact any other tissue than the subcutaneous fat, which was apparently continuous with the fat of the orbit. A broad, thin tendon was seen spread out over the exposed part of the globe, which proved to be the tendon of the supe- rior rectus. Between tliis and the roof of the orbit the tendon of the levator was easily discovered, and no difficulty was ex- perienced in attaching it, by three sutures, to the front of the tarsal cartilage. The wound was then closed by three other sutures, leaving the ends of the three deep sutures protruding externally. The subsequent swelling was v^ery moderate, and the ex- ternal wound healed promptly without suppuration. The su- perficial sutures were removed on the fourth day, and the deep sutures left to become detached spontaneously. The boy was allowed to go home on the fifth day, the levator muscle evidently performing its function, although impeded in its ac- tion by the swelling of the lid. Two months later the father wrote to me as follows : May 22,1871.—The operation was a perfect success ; the muscle united by first intention, and the eye opens and shuts simultaneously with the other.”](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22449887_0139.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
