Surgical observations on injuries of the head; and on miscellaneous subjects / [John Abernethy].

  • Abernethy, John, 1764-1831.
Date:
1811
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Surgical observations on injuries of the head; and on miscellaneous subjects / [John Abernethy]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    288/316 (page 280)
    It appears to’me that a very considerable advantage is derived from this mode of treating these com- plaints. Whatever secretion is made in the abscess of the loins, will, by its gravity, descend into the | space left by the seceded fascia of the thigh. The | abscess. of the loins being left perfectly free from __ distention will most probably contract to very little dimensions, if it be not perfectly abolished. Hence in the subsequent treatment of these complaints you have only to attend to the disunited fascia; | whilst the cavity in the loins scarcely deserves no- | tice. . i Wi p | _ September 22d, a fortnight after the former eva- | cuation, I discharged four ounces of similar serous . fluid mixed with pus. During its evacuation, which . was very speedy, I had applied my fingers beneath 3 Poupart’s ligament, as if to obstruct the descent | of any matter from the loins. I then desired the man to cough, but no matter descended, and the collection appeared to me entirely confined to the: - thigh. | Oa a ] I found some difficulty in introducing atrochar, = when the abscess contained so little fluid. This | was remedied by first introducing a lancet through the fascia, and then conveying the trochar through the aperture made by the lancet. Thus after discharging the matter four times, the complaint was reduced from a lumbar abscess, — containing three pints, to a small collection of mat- ter beneath the fascia, containing four ounces.— What communication this had with the loins, and — what was the state of parts there, cannot be deter- mined. To appearance there was no collection. If I had now immediately opened the abscess, the con- taining cyst being small, the inflammation probably would not have been considerable. But the state of