A treatise on the operations of surgery : with a description and representation of the instruments used in performing them : to which is prefixed an introduction on the nature and treatment of wounds, abscesses and ulcers / by Samuel Sharpe, fellow of the Royal Society, and member of the Academy of Surgery at Paris.
- Samuel Sharp
- Date:
- 1788
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A treatise on the operations of surgery : with a description and representation of the instruments used in performing them : to which is prefixed an introduction on the nature and treatment of wounds, abscesses and ulcers / by Samuel Sharpe, fellow of the Royal Society, and member of the Academy of Surgery at Paris. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.
48/142 page 38
![As to the cure of this diftemper by external applications, or internal means, after having tried upon a great variety of Subjects, moft of the me- dicines invented to that end, I have found but very little Satisfaction in the event; for if by chance anyone has mended under a phyfical regimen, it muil be confefled too, that there are fome inftances of people recover- ing, who have fo abfolutely neglected themfelves as not even to wear a bap- trufs; on wificti account I mould judge it advileable to wait with patience till the tumour becomes troubiefone, and then to tap it with, a lancet or trocar. In opening with a Jancct, it may poffibly happen the orifice of the fkin (hall llip away from that of ihe tunic* and prevent the egrefs of the water ; to obviate which inconvenience, you may introduce a probe, and by that means fecure the exact fituation of the wound; but if the coats arc very much thickened, it will be advifcahle to ufe the trocar rather than the lancet. It is fpoken of as aneafy thing to ho]d the tefticle with the left hand, while we make the puncture with the right; but when the tunica vaginalis is very tenfe, it can- not well be diftinguiihed ; however, I think there is no danger of wound- ing it, if you make the puncture in the inferior part of the fcrotum. During the evacuation, the fcrotum mult be regularly prcfied : and after the operation, a liffle piece of dry lint and fticking-plafter are fufticient. This method of tapping, is called the palliative cure; nOt but that it doer, now and then prove an abfolute one. To prevent the relapfe of this difeafe, furgeens prefcribe the mak- ing a large wound, either by incificn or caijftic, and upon healing it after- wards, the firmnefs and contraction of the cicatrix may bind up the re- Jaxed lymphatic veflels, and obstruct the farther preternatural efFufion of their contents : but by what I have feen of this practice, it is generally attended with fo much trouble, that notwithstanding its fuccefs in the end, o M THE I believe whoever reads the following cafes, will be apt to difcard the me- thod, and abide rather by the palli- ative cure. CASE I. A. B. aged 44, a Strong man, never in his life having been Subject to any i other infirmity, put himfelf under my*l care for the relief of a hydrocele on I the left fide of the fcrotum. December 3, 1733, I difchsrged ] the water, by making an incifioa j through the teguments about four j inches long. Towards night he grew ] feverifh, got no reft, the fcrotum and ] tefticle on that fide beginnisg to in* 1 flame, and the' capillary arteries;! (dilating) to bleed freely., He was ! Seized too with a violent pain in the! back, which was in a great meafure j removed by fufpending the fcrotum,,! with a bag-trufs. From the 3d to the 7th, continued 1 in a molt dangerous condition, when 1 the fever tended to a crifis, by the I Suppuration of both wound and! tefticle. From the 7th to the 24th, he daily! acquired ftrength; but the diSchargel from the tefticle increasing, and thel finus penetrating now very deep to-l wards the feptum fcroti, I openedj the body of the tefticle the wholel length of the abfeefs. From the 24th, the difchargel leffencd furprifingly; fo that in fixl days the furface of the greater! par'tl of the tefticle united with the lcroJ| turn, and there remained only a Super-* fici 1 wound, which was entirely cica-| trifed on Jan. 10, 1733-4. March 31, 1737, he continued in perfect health. CASE II. In the year 1733,1 made an incifiotl through the fcrotum and tunica vaVj ■ginalifr](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21442502_0048.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
