Statement of improvements in the theory and practice of the science of medicine / by Thomas Ewell.

  • Thomas Ewell
Date:
1819
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Statement of improvements in the theory and practice of the science of medicine / by Thomas Ewell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    27/176
    might be more readily excited than is commonly done. When a ligature is applied to any flexible tube, so as to com- press it, there are produced irregular folds or rugae, not only immediately under, but above and below the ligature. When this is done, to stop the bleeding from arteries, par- ticularly of the larger kind, these irregularities prove a con- siderable impediment to the proper union ofyhe sides of the artery. But this is not the only respect in which the use of the ligature seems defective. It produces, in consequence of this unequal compression on the irregular folds of the ar- tery, the ulcerative and suppurating inflammation, which is followed by the secondary hemorrhage, so often the cause of death. To prevent these inconveniences, I imagined it only necessary to bring the sides of the artery precisely and regularly in contact, so that pressure might be made equally on every part, and consequently one common action, the adhesive inflammation, excited. With this view I conceived of applying a pair of common forceps to the artery, with a screw connecting together the two handles, so that by the turning of this screw any necessary approximation of the blades could be produced. The readiness with which the correctness of my idea could be ascertained was such, that not many days elapsed before I submitted it to the test of the following experiment. A large dog was confined, and his femoral artery laid bare. A pair of forceps of a delicate construction were then appli- ed to it. In place of a screw, the compression was regulated by a string tied around the handle of the forceps. The wound was then bound up, and the forceps properly supported by bandage. The forceps was kept on the artery for sixteen hours, when it was removed, and the dog permitted to go about the house. In six days the wound was healed up en- tirely, and I killed the dog. On examining the femoral ar- tery, very greatly to my satisfaction, I found that part of it to which the forceps had been applied perfectly united, so that a probe could not pass, and the limb was supplied with
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3