A manual of minor surgery and bandaging : for the use of house-surgeons, dressers and junior practitioners / by Christopher Heath.

  • Christopher Heath
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of minor surgery and bandaging : for the use of house-surgeons, dressers and junior practitioners / by Christopher Heath. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    85/454 (page 65)
    he at all severe, hot bottles should be applied to the feet, and sjmie form of sedative, even in young chil- dren, will be advisalSle, botli to relieve pain and pro- cure sleep, and this may be necessary for some days af tefthe accident. In Very extensive burns, it will be advisable to administer chloroform for the first few dressings, and then to give a hypodermic injec- tion of morphia so as to prolong the sedative effect. ' Subsequently, ample nourishment, and probably stimulants, will be necessary to counterbalance the drain upon the system caused by the profuse suppu- ration. As respects the wound itself, our object is to get it into a state of healthy granulation as quickly as possible ; and for this purpose—so soon as the first applications are removed—Avater dressing may be applied, with or without myrrh or some other lotion ; or the zinc ointment may be used, if pi-e- ferred. When a highly sensitive surface, such as the face, has been extensively burned, the ointment should be preferred, as it adheres less to the surface. In these cases the dressing should be changed as seldom as may be, and if possible under chloroform. To prevent contraction during and after the cica- trisation of burns is one of the house-.surgeon's most difficult tasks, and will tax his ingenuity to the utmost. Extension of the cicatrix nuist be cons^tantly kept up liy the use of splints if the injury is on the limbs, or by laying the patient flat in bed, or even with the head overhanging the bedstead, if the burn is on the neck. In these cases strips of plaster may be most usefully employed to stretch the cicatrix, and if the patient's licad is shaved, the .scalp will bo found to afford a iiim attachment for them. Of the various mechanical a])paratuses which have beeji contrived for stretching th(! cicatrices of the neck, the only one which is I'eally effective is that which exerts pressure in botli direc- tions, and pulls the skin down over the clavicles by means of a collar, at the same time that the chin is raised. Those screws which oidy get their pui cliase F