An essay on the use of nitric acid, as an escharotic, in certain forms of hemorrhoidal affections; illustrated by cases / by John Houston.
- Houston John, 1802-1845.
- Date:
- 1843
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: An essay on the use of nitric acid, as an escharotic, in certain forms of hemorrhoidal affections; illustrated by cases / by John Houston. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![recommend the use of nitric acid. I do not speak of it as a re- medy for all kinds and degrees of vascular tumours or internal hemorrhoids; nor as one to supersede entirely the knife or ligature. There are cases, no matter how they may have com- menced originally, in which, from long standing or other causes, all the textures in the neighbourhood—blood-vessels, skin, raucous membrane, cellular tissue, &c., have become so impli- cated, that scarcely any one part appears worse than another; and in which some operation, if any, of a more sweeping na- ture must be had recourse to. For such, the knife or ligature may, according to the choice of the practitioner, be employed. The acid is, according to my experience, adapted especially for cases of more common, every-day occurrence; cases in which the disease, although not involving immediate danger, yet keeps individuals miserable, and interferes with them in the discharge of their ordinary duties of life; cases, in short, which astringents will not cure, and for which, excision or ligature would be un- necessarily severe remedies. But, in speaking thus cautiously of the extent to which the I acid is applicable, I believe that I am recommending it within I the range of its power and applicability to the cure of hemor- I rhoidal diseases. Cases I. and II. may be regarded, perhaps, as 1 among the class of extremes in severity; and the case of a me- (dical gentleman of eminence, cured of long continued and aggra- 'vated vascular tumours of the rectum by the nitric acid alone, is iwell known in this city. And, farther, I have reason to believe that the beneficial ap- jj plication of this remedy is not confined exclusively to such cases jaas I have been recommending its use in, viz., vascular tumours. ]lln experimenting with it on these affections I have found that the iwarices joined with them in some instances, were also removed jlby the same application. In Case No. IV., the subjacent varix, which showed itself as Ijssuch after being stripped by the acid of its tender vascular co- I veriiig, disappeared under the action of a second touch of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b2172782x_0035.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
