On a new method of extracting in cases of cataract : with reports of fifty-four cases operated upon in succession, from November 1865 to May 1867, in fifty-three of which the lens was extracted, and a successful result obtained / by Charles Taylor.

  • Bell Taylor
Date:
1868
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On a new method of extracting in cases of cataract : with reports of fifty-four cases operated upon in succession, from November 1865 to May 1867, in fifty-three of which the lens was extracted, and a successful result obtained / by Charles Taylor. 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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    feeling pretty confident of a successful result. During the night, he disturbed the house and alarmed the other patients by loud cries and screams uttered while partially asleep, and his wife informed the nurse that he had commonly done so under excitement ever since his head wa.s injured by a kick from a horse some years ago. It is probable that the eye was injured during one of these paroxysms, as the bandage was found disarranged; and on my visit in the morning, he complained of great pain, and 1 found the face much flushed, head very hot, and eyelid swollen. 1 therefore ordered four leeches to the temple, replacing them until twelve had been used, applied ice to the eye, and injected morphia in the neighbourhood of the lid. He was much relieved the following day; and on examining the eye the day after, I found a small streak of pus along the edges of the wound, which, fonning the initial stej) of a process of suppuration, had evidently been arrested by treatment. He ultimately recovered with a clear cornea, iris of natural colour, and a pupil closed with lymph and exudation. In the left eye, I have, done a large iridectomy down- wards, in addition to the one already perfonned upwards, and still Ibope, in spite of manifold contra indications, to secure a successful result. (Since this report has been sent to press, I have made an artificial pupil in the eye previ- ously operated on. Apj)arently, from constitutional causes, intense reaction followed, and the eyeball has since shrunk.) Case 21.—Henry Butler, aged 64, from Grove Street, Derby, applied to me in November 1865, suffering from imperfectly formed cataract in the left eye, and fully formed in the right, which I extracted in the following manner:—I made a very small incision in the conieo-sclerotic junction, hooked out a por- tion of the upper segment of the iris, and cut it off; closed the eye, and half an hour later, finding the chaml>er refilled, extracted by linear flap; eye opened, and atropine applied on fourth day; patient discharged on the seventh. Two months after the operation, I found sight obstructed by a piece of capsule; this I removed, and, four months from date of extraction, found that he could read diamond type, and had excellent distant vision with appropriate glasses. (1 have since operated u])on the other eye with equally successful result.) Cases 22 and 2.3.—George Caminish, aged 20, Scarboro’, a healthy man, came under my care on the Gth of April. My attention was directed to this patient by a surgeon whom I met in consultation at Scarboro’. He was a poor lad who had been born blind, and, when 1 first saw him, had perception of light, but nothing more. The pupils, which were dilated with atropine, were com- pletely blocked up with fully formed cataracts. In spite of nystagmus, and other indications of amaurotic complication, I thought it worth while to extract, and accordingly brought him with me to Nottingham. Extraction under chloroform, linear flap, left eye, on April Gth; owing to very tough capsule, it was necessary to use the canula forceps, to get out remains of lens and cortical debris. Atronine introduced on third day, eye opened on the sixth, wound h^led perfectly, punil black and clear; no trace of injection, except in imme- diate neighbourhoou of incision; could see large objects moving about, and pointed to a white handkerchief a few yards distant. Lens of right eye extracted on Aprif 18th by linear flap. A remarkably tough, leathery piece of capsule had to be extracted with iris forceps, leaving a perfectly clear pupil; no bad symptoms followed, wound perfectly healed on the fourth day; patient went out on the eighth. On subsequently examining the eyes with the oph- thalmoscope, I found the optic disc affected with white atrophy, though his habit of rolling the eyes rendered an accurate inspection very difficult. Besult: he can distinguish colours, large objects as shadows, finds his way about, and enjoys a bright sunlight, and the firework exhibitions with which the inhabi- tants of Scarboro’ are regaled during the season; glasses of no service, media in both eyes perfectly transparent. (I have since heard that his sight has very much improved, and that he can recognise large objects at some distance.) Cases 24 and 25.—John Selby, a postman, set. 65, came under my care on the.5th of May, with fully formed cataract in the right eye, as the left was failing from the same cause; and the patient, a stout, flushed, plethoric man, with fully formed arcus senilis, and other indications of fatty degeneration and
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