A probationary essay on injuries of the male urethra / [Benjamin Bell].

  • Bell, Benjamin, 1810-1883
Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A probationary essay on injuries of the male urethra / [Benjamin Bell]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    into the perinceiim. The instrument should then be properly secured* in its place, and allowed to remain for a few days at least, till the muscular sympathies of the bladder and urethra are fully restored. When this very desirable improvement has taken place, there is little necessity, in most cases, for any farther interference, provided our incision in the perinaeum has been sufficiently free. There is no fear of effusion ; the urine escapes partly by the wound and partly by the urethra, and Nature will complete the cure without our assistance. But we must here notice a very important practical question connected with this part of the inquiry. .Is any advantage gained, in the subsequent history of these cases, by the continued use of an instrument while the healing processes are going on ? This question can be properly answered, only by an appeal to experience ; but I fear much that the data neces¬ sary for the ])urpose are scarcely to be obtained. In the case of the boy, related in a former page, all instruments were entirely thrown aside after the first few days ; and we find that great narrowing of the canal existed ultimately. An interesting casef of ruptured urethra is * A very convenient mode of securing- an instrument in the bladder is that adopted by the French. A metallic ring, which may be covered with clotli, and should be large enough to encircle the penis under all circumstances, is passed over that organ, so as to rest lightly on the pubes, and then secured by means of four long tapes surrounding the pelvis. Four shorter pieces of narrow tape being fastened to it, at equal distances in front, are then tied on either side to the small rings of the catheter. ■j-. Oeuvres CMrurgicales, t. iii. p. 207.