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.

    93/454 (page 73)
    poles may be applied o\ er the base and apex of the heart, or better, over the phrenic nerve at the root of the neck and over the diaphragm ; but the artificial respiration must never be relaxed, as upon it the chief reliance is to be placed {vide chapter on Anfes- thetics). In cases of hanging, and occasionally of drowning, the face is tui^gid and the head evidently cnormousfy congested ; and under these circumstances it will be justifiable to take blood from the external jugular vein or from the temporal artery. When symptoms of recovery begin to show them- selves, stimulating enemata of wine or brandy may be useful; but the house-surgeon must be careful not to administer stimulants by the mouth until anima- tion is fully restoied, lest they pass into the lungs iuid so suffocate the patient. In cases of apparent deatii from chloioform, carbonic acid, etc., all the above measures may be adoi)ted : and in 'addition (particularly in the case of chloroform), dashing with cold watei-, to produce a forcible inspiration, shoukl be immediately had recourse to. Concussion and conipression.—When a patient is brought into the hospital in an insensible state, the result of a blow on the head, it becomes of immediate nnportance to determine the cause of that condition The house-surgeon should make a careful examination of the head to see if there is any external injury and mstitute inquiries as to the nature of the blow and its probable seat. If there is no injury to the head or at most only a scalp wound, if tlie patient can' be partially roused by bawling at him, and if his skin is cool and the pupds react to light, he may pretty safely be considered to be labouring under concussion. If on the contrary, lieisjDerfectly^nseless, if the breathing IS jidjoured and stertorous, andlhe pupiTs^re unequal orcUlat^d, It may be lookecUponas a case of compres- s;i^. The diagnosis will Br^c5i7&?iri^TVy1^,V\seA-e exCHrnal damag,. to the head, -.uu] particularly by anv