Volume 1

A manual of medical treatment or clinical therapeutics / by I. Burney Yeo.

  • Isaac Burney Yeo
Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of medical treatment or clinical therapeutics / by I. Burney Yeo. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    68/664 (page 48)
    and carry away any sticky, ropy mucus which may be adhering to the mucous membrane. Ems or Vichy water, or a weak solution of bicarbonate of soda (2 grains to the ounce) will do for this purpose. When tliere are objections to, or difSculties in, the application ot this method, it may be useful to give an emetic, especially in the case of young children and persons who vomit easily. Fx'om 5 to 20 grains of powdered ipecacuanha, according to age, in from one to four tablespoonfuls of warm water, will act well with most persons, and with care in the subsequent treatment it will I'arely be necessary to repeat this. Some j^refer to give a hypodermic injection of ^\th to y^^th of a grain of apomorpldne, but it must be borne in mind that this drug is very depressing to some persons. In other cases we may succeed in emptying the stomach by means of mild purgatives, together with gentle manipulation or massage of the stomach; the pressure on tlie distended organ being directed from left to right, i.e. from the cardiac towards the pyloidc end. By mild measures of this kind, together with complete abstinence from solid food, we may be enabled to emj^ty the stomacli of its contents in a manner perhaps more agreeable to the patient than by either of the preceding ways. A suitable aperient for children is the compound rhubarb powder, 10 to 20 grains, and for- adults 1 or 2 drams of Carlsbad salts dissolved in warm water, twice a day. When we ha^'e succeeded in cleansing the stomacli from all irritating contents we have 2. To enforce o^est of the iiiflamed organ. In severe cases the entire exclusion of all food from the stomach for two or three days will be of great service. Nutrient enemata should be admin- istered, the ])atient should be kept in bed, and allowed simply to sip iced water, or to suck small fragments of ici;. If tliere should be any craving ibr food, or any restlessness or pain, a morphi ne suppository, or the addition of a few drops of tincture of opium to each enema, will usually relieve these sym])toms.