Digital examination and treatment of certain morbid conditions of the nasal chamber ; Age and sex in diseases of the upper respiratory tract / by Harrison Allen.

  • Harrison Allen
Date:
1895
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Digital examination and treatment of certain morbid conditions of the nasal chamber ; Age and sex in diseases of the upper respiratory tract / by Harrison Allen. 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.

    3/40
    TAIN MORBID CONDITIONS OF THE NASAL CHAMBER. [Extracted from the “University Medical Magazine,” May and June, 1895.] From among a large number of cases of nasal catarrh there will be noted instances of headache which unfit the sufferer for the duties of life ; mental oppression ; dullness of perception ; loss of memory ; and morbid apprehension. Neurasthenia of a grave type is occa- sionally recognized. Subjects may also be epileptic, and the num- ber and severity of the seizures be aggravated by the disease. Catarrhal deafness is frequently commensural with nasal obstruction. Frequently patients are victims of exhaustive attacks of sneezing, which interfere with many occupations and depress the general strength. As is well known, at least one form of asthma is always associated with rhinitis, especially the form which leads to the development of polypus. What is to be done for one or more of these conditions after the vain use of detergents, astringents, and caustics ; or when the irregularities of the septum have been overcome by operation and all hope of improvement from the administration of alteratives or from change of climate has been abandoned ? May not the situation be sufficiently grave to urge the medical attendant to other efforts ? I do not hesitate to answer this question in the affirmative. I allude to the investigation of the conditions which excite the local distress by digital examination of the nasal passages. In surgical practice it is impossible to over-estimate the value of the sense of touch in making a diagnosis. If to those aids in studying nasal diseases which are already in our possession we can add this valuable auxiliary, in my opinion, a step forward is taken. Is such a step safe ? Is it practicable ? I reply that it is both safe and prac- ticable. , I venture in this connection to formulate the result of my studies which have now extended over ten years.* The circumstances which led me to institute such an investigation were as follows ; In the spring of 1885 I had under my care a child, ten years of age, who was suffering from fetid nasal catarrh, accompanied with very marked deformity of the external nose, due to a depression of the nasal bones. The patient proved to be intractable, and I sug- gested to the parents that ether be given in the first stage, in order that the parts be thoroughly cleansed, with the hope that on subse- quent occasions treatment would be conducted more satisfactorily. Con.sent being given, I administered ether and carefully removed from the nasal passages and pharynx large quantities of inspissated mucus. It occurred to me at the time that it would be well to determine to what extent the finger could be inserted into the nostril. The little > A short account of this method appeared in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences, April, iSS6.