X-rays in diagnosis.

  • Practitioner.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: X-rays in diagnosis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Dr. John T. Pitkin, in a paper read before the “ American Roentgen Ray Society,” December 10th, 1903, thus describes the pain and suffering of this terrible disease : “For a “ description of the pain and suffering, hypersesthesia and “ paraesthesia, no language, sacred or profane, is adequate. “ The sting of the honey-bee, or the passage of a renal “ calculus, is painful enough, but they are comparative “ pleasures, because, being paroxysmal, they have a time “ limitation. Extreme tenderness to the slightest touch, hot “ and cold waves and flashes, warmth, tingling, pricking, “ throbbing, stinging, crawling, boring and burning sensations, “ as if the parts were on fire and contained bugs, and other “ living things ; feelings, as if the anatomical structures were “ being removed from one position to another : all of these “ sensations are proportionate to the depth of the inflam- “ matory process.” When this disease is once contracted there appears to be no relief obtainable. Giving up the work, for even a lengthy period, appears to make little difference, and protecting the hands does not appear to improve matters, although it may prevent them from getting much worse. The disease is, apparently, not only incurable, but is progressive, hence the best advice which can be given to beginners is, from the first to protect themselves, and so to avoid it. Treatment of Chronic X-ray Dermatitis.—Inasmuch as, in the light of our present knowledge, this disease is entirely preventable, and incurable, it would be waste of time to detail the various methods of treatment, which have been tried, or suggested, for obtaining relief. Suffice it to say, therefore, that nothing gives relief to the pain, and that the skin never afterwards regains its normal condition. Before entering into details of the various methods which should be adopted, for the protection of both the operator and the patient, I would like to say a few words upon another danger, which lurks behind the indiscriminate use of an unprotected X-ray tube. It has been proved that guinea- pigs, rats, and mice can be rendered sterile by the exposure of the testicles to the rays, and it has been asserted that several workers with the rays, have been affected in like manner. The changes which take place in the structure of
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