Clinical report on ovarian and uterine diseases : with commentaries / by Robert Lee.

  • Robert Lee
Date:
1853
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Clinical report on ovarian and uterine diseases : with commentaries / by Robert Lee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    anxiety to empty the uterus of its contents by pressure—a mode of proceeding to which there are the same objections in these cases as there are in those of large chronic ab- scesses. If you are publishing on the treatment of these cases, I think it would be well to give the profession some cautions on this subject. Some observations which I have made, in the last edition of my work on the Opening of Chronic Abscesses connected with Diseased Joints, are (I conceive) exactly applicable to the operation for relieving the uterus of these accumulations. Case II.—In the month of May 1839,1 was requested by Mr. Farquhar of Cadogan Place, to visit a female child of about 18 months old, who had been brought from New- foundland to London, for surgical assistance. I was in- formed, that soon after birth a small tumour had been discovered in the situation of the orifice of the vagina, which had gradually increased in size, without however producing any actual inconvenience. On examination, I discovered a tumour in the situation which has been men- tioned, of the size of an ordinary marble; convex on its surface and of a yellow colour, evidently in consequence of a yellow fluid being collected within it. The first impres- sion which these appearances produced on my mind was, that they were the result of some malformation of the rectum, and that the tumour was formed by a portion of the bowel projecting as a sort of hernia through the opening of the vagina. A careful examination, however, of the rectum satisfied me that this impression was erroneous: and that the tumour could be nothing more than an imper- forate hymen, made to project externally in consequence of a collection of fluid in the vagina above it. On puncturing the tumour with a needle, not less than half an ounce of yellow fluid escaped; the membrane which had been punc- tured lost its yellow colour, and the tumour disappeared. The fluid thus evacuated was examined by Dr. Prout, who found it to be a sero-mucous fluid, containing a substance like adipocire. We recommended to the parents that they should allow the membrane of the hymen to be divided as soon as a collection of fluid above it had again begun to take place. In the month of August following, I again saw the child with Mr. Farquhar, Dr. Blundell being in consultation with us. Dr. Blundell made a very careful examination of the