Spasmodic wry-neck and other spasmodic movements of the head, face and neck / by Noble Smith.
- Smith, E. Noble (Eldred Noble), 1847-1906
- Date:
- 1891
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Spasmodic wry-neck and other spasmodic movements of the head, face and neck / by Noble Smith. 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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![“ Some curious facts are seen in connection with the excitation “ of the muscles. If he keeps the arms above the head, he can “ walk for some time without the spasm coming on; so too, if “ the left sterno-mastoid be grasped, he can walk with little “ inconvenience; but on suddenly letting it go, violent spasm “ would ensue, the pain becoming very intense.” Other treatment having failed, Mr. Campbell de Morgan excised a portion of the spinal accessory on the left side. This operation destroyed the spasm of the left sterno-mastoid, but left the patient unrelieved from the action of the posterior rotators on the right side. In this case operation upon the posterior branches of the cervical nerves supplying the muscles which still acted spasmodically would almost without doubt have completed the cure. The following six cases are collected by Mr. Bowlby in his work “Injuries and Diseases of Nerves.” “ i. Sands.1—Excision of a portion of the spinal accessory nerve “for Spasmodic Wry-neck. “ The patient was a man, aged 39, who came under observa- tion in May, 1882. The wry-neck was of 9 months’ duration. “ Various local and internal remedies had been tried in vain. “ Three inches of the spinal accessory nerve were removed. “ The wound healed in nine days. Soon after the operation the “ contraction of the muscle gave way, but the sterno-mastoid “ remained paralyzed and atrophied. For some time afterwards “ there was a certain inclination of the head to one side, but “ it gradually yielded.” [There seems to be some mistake about the length of nerve removed, as it cannot have been as much as three inches.—N.S.] “ 2. Sands.—Excision of a portion of the spinal accessory nerve “ for Spasmodic Wry-neck. “ In a patient, aged 3 i, suffering from wry-neck, half an inch “ of the spinal accessory nerve was resected. The wound “ healed well. For some weeks the patient had difficulty in “ keeping his head straight, but he finally was completely “ cured.” “3. Tillaux.2—Resection of the spinal accessory nerve for Wry- “ neck. “The patient was a woman, aged 32, who suffered from a “ peculiar form of Spasmodic Wry-neck. After treatment by 1 Rev. des Set. Mid. 1884, vol. xxiv. p. 296. * Gazette des Hdpitatuc, 1SS2, p. 109.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22380103_0042.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
