On the antiseptic treatment of wounds / by William MacCormac.

  • Maccormac, William, Sir, 1836-1901.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the antiseptic treatment of wounds / by William MacCormac. 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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    Case I.—The first time I had occasion to use the antiseptic method was in August, 1867. On the first day of that month a quarryman, forty years of age, was in the act of withdrawing a charge of powder from a quarryhole. The blast went off spon- taneously, the poor man was driven to some distance by the violence of the explosion. When admitted I found him suffering severely from shock. His face was tatooed by the gunpowder, the right eye de- stroyed by effusion of blood within the globe, and the anterior lamina of the left cornea engrained with small particles of charcoal, which with some difficulty were picked out by means of a sharp pointed hook. Both forearms were lacerated. The right had only sustained a severe flesh wound, but on the left side the ulna was extensively comminuted, and the soft parts covering the bone were literally blown away through an extent of three inches of the middle of the forearm. The parts were, in addition, blackened and much contused. I removed three or four loose portions of bone, and ascertained the condition of a much larger piece, about an inch and a-half long, which, although comparatively loose, I considered should be left untouched. The wound was then filled up with pieces of lint steeped in a saturated solution of carbolic acid, while a padded splint was bandaged along the anterior surface of the limb. It is unnecessary to detail the progress of the case further than to say that the carbolic acid was renewed as often as required in the dressings. The discharge of pus from the wound proved limited. There was likewise a small amount of swelling in the limb, unattended with pain or other signs of inflammation, which disappeared in a few days. On the 15th the wound is reported as granulating, and in every respect healthy. In five more days the wound in the arm is stated to be nearly filled up, and the patient had sufficiently recovered from his other injuries to be able to sit up. On the 25th of' August, he is reported as convalescent, the wound of the broken arm is almost perfectly whole, while that in the other arm is only beginning to cicatrize. In short, the com- pound fracture of the ulna, comminuted though it were, appeared to cause, in no respect, more constitutional disturbance than if it had been an ordinary simple one. Case I [.—The next case I should wish to report is that of a labouring man, fifty-eight years of age, who had previously enjoyed good health. Whilst engaged unloading a truck, laden