Account of a case of successful amputation of the thigh during the mesmeric state, without the knowledge of the patient : read to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, on Tuesday, the 22nd of November, 1842 / by W. Topham and W. Squire Ward.

  • Topham, Sir William.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a case of successful amputation of the thigh during the mesmeric state, without the knowledge of the patient : read to the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, on Tuesday, the 22nd of November, 1842 / by W. Topham and W. Squire Ward. 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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    described by Mr. Topham ; and which, to all present, gave the impression of a disturbed dream. The patient is doing remarkably well; and sat up on Sunday last, to eat his dinner,—just three weeks from the operation ; and he has not had a single bad symptom : none, even of the nervous excitement, so frequently observed in patients who have undergone painful operations, and who have suffered much previous anxiety, in making up their minds. On dissection of the joint, the appearances fully verified my diagnosis. The cartilages of the tibia, femur, and patella, had been entirely absorbed, except a much-thinned layer, partly covering the patella. There was deep, carious ulceration of the exposed ends of the bones; and especially on the inner condyle of the femur; which had wholly lost its rounded shape. Some coagulated lymph was effused upon the surface of the synovial membrane, in several places ; and the joint contained a certain quantity of dark-colored pus. It is not my intention to trespass further upon
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