Gangrenous cellulitis of leg / by William Anderson.

  • Anderson, William, 1842-1900.
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gangrenous cellulitis of leg / by William Anderson. 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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    2 GANGRENOUS CELLULITIS OF LEG. the peronei tendons, and sloughing portions of some of the foot extensor tendons were cut away. The condition steadily improved, but it was necessary a fortnight later to make incisions in the sole to release a collection of pus. The health was gradually restored, and the undermined skin of the leg become united to the subjacent tissue by granulations. On September 2nd, the granulating surface on the dorsum of the foot was covered with grafts (Thiersch) taken from the thigh and arm. The patient left the hospital on the 11th of October. Remarks.—This appears to have been a case of rapidly spreading infection extending from the foot lesion along the subcutaneous cellular tissue of the limb, leading to detachment of the skin from the fascia and rupture of the greater number of the cutaneous arteries. The exudation was most rapid and extensive over the dorsum of the foot, and it was here that the sudden cutting off of the vascular supply led to gangrene, but there is little doubt that the process of destruction would have involved the whole of the skin of the leg had it not been for the timely incisions and the adoption of antiseptic treatment. The condition is probably allied to the gangrenous erysipelas of former days, but at the present time it is one of great rarity.