Compressed air illness, or, So-called caisson disease / by E. Hugh Snell.

  • Snell, E. Hugh.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Compressed air illness, or, So-called caisson disease / by E. Hugh Snell. 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.

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    the sliehtest movement with either of them ; both knee- jerks absolutely absent; also the cremasteric, abdominal, and epigastric reflexes. Severe pain in the abdomen ; no ansesthesia. Morphia (gr. |) given hypodermically. Com- pressed air turned on. When at about 19 lbs. pressure the pain was easier, and some voluntary movements of the legs could be effected. He was allowed to leak out, the process taking forty-five minutes. The marked improvement was maintained : he could stand, but could not walk. Slight evidence of knee-jerks on both sides. No abdominal pain. Sent home in a cab. Jan. 16th : Considerably better. Has more power of movement in the legs. Knee-jerks both present and more perceptible. Between 11 a.m. and 12 noon yesterday, when he had been put to bed, severe pain came on in the right leg throughout its whole length ; this kept him awake; also yesterday, later in the day, he had considerable difficulty in micturition, which was, however, surmounted at length without medical assistance. Constipation lasted thirty-six hours. [Ext. ergotae liq. tri.xv. every four hours.] A rubefacient and anodyne liniment and aperient pill recommended. Jan. 18th : Can walk, but is weak on his legs. Right leg feels to him numb, but there is no anaesthesia. Thinks that the left leg is stronger than the right. Left knee-jerk is more marked than the right. Jan. 22nd : Better. Walks well. Knee-jerks now not obtained even by Jendrassik's method. No trouble with bladder or rectum. A few days later he returns to work. Case XXXVI.—Retention of urine. W. L. has been working in compressed air three or four months. Had bends once or twice in joints, but never sufficiently severely to prevent his returning to work the 7