A manual of modern gastric methods : chemical, physical, and therapeutical / by A. Lockhart Gillespie ... ; with a chapter upon the mechanical methods used in young children / by John Thomson.

  • Andrew Lockhart Gillespie
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of modern gastric methods : chemical, physical, and therapeutical / by A. Lockhart Gillespie ... ; with a chapter upon the mechanical methods used in young children / by John Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    size varies with the size of the child from Xo. 14 to No. 18 (French). The child is placed flat on his back, his head being held steady by an assistant. 1 he left forefinger is then placed lightly on the tongue to depress it, while with the right hand the catheter, well oiled, is passed down the phar3'nx for 8 or 10 inches. The stomach being reached, the funnel is raised for a few moments to allow the escape of gas. The food is now poured into the funnel and rapidly finds its way into the stomach. When the funnel empties, the tube is tightly compressed, and rapidly, but gently, with- drawn. If the withdrawal of the catheter is done slowly or carelessly, it is apt to excite vomiting. In infants who have no teeth, or only one or two, no gag is required. In older children some sort of gag is necessar}^, as there is otherwise danger of the tube being bitten. In them, however, the process is much more difficult than in babies, and not nearh- so generally useful. A simpler form of forced feeding (first recom- mended by ]\Ir Scott Battams) often proves of great value. For this all that is necessary- is an ordinary glass or ball s}-ringe, to the nozzle of which four inches of rubber tube are attached. The child, who is refusing food, or who for some reason ought not to be allowed to suck in the ordinar}' way, is laid on his back, the tube is passed towards the back of the mouth, and the liquid is gently injected. In older children who close their teeth, the tube may easily be passed backwards inside the cheek, and the liquid thus readily reaches the pharynx.