On Professor Sayre's treatment of spinal affections / by James F. West.

  • West, James F., 1833-1883
Date:
[1880]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On Professor Sayre's treatment of spinal affections / by James F. West. 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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    of the diseased bones in the most favourable position for obtaining a case with a minimum of deformity, and with freedom from the serious dangers and inconveniences of suspension. The gutta percha cases have been in general use for many years, and Mr. W. Adams, whose experience on this subject is probably greater than that of any living English Surgeon, asserts that he has used them for 25 years, but for all that they have ceased to be popular. My own experience tells me that gutta percha is not a good material for this purpose : that it loses its shape with the heat of the body and then ceases to be an efficient support, and that it is altogether inferior to the poro-plastic material invented by Mr. Cocking, and which has recently been extensively used for the making of spinal supports by Mr. Ernst. The chief advocate of the poro-plastic jacket is Mr. F. R. Fisher, surgeon to the National Orthopaedic Hospital. To this part of my subject I will return; but as Dr. Walker has asserted a new principle in the treatment of cases of spinal curvature, viz., that of the plaster case, applied in a special manner and ivithout extension, it is only fair to give a brief account of his method of practice, and of the merits which he claims for it. With regard to the plaster jacket, as applied to patients while in the recumbent posture, Dr. Walker declares that the diseased bones aj'e at least as perfectly relieved from pressure, the musdes are as completely relaxed, and the deformity is as much diminished ivhen the patient lies flat on the bed, as zvhen he is suspended. He uses a closely fitting under shirt like that. recommended by Sayre, but instead of applying long plastic bandages to encircle the trunk, he uses them in strips like a many-tailed bandage, the ends of the bandage being folded across the front of the body, so that there is a strong wide rib down the
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