Volume 1
The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick.
- M'Gregor-Robertson, J. (Joseph), 1858-1925
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The household physician : a family guide to the preservation of health and to the domestic treatment of ailments and disease, with chapters on food and drugs and first aid in accidents and injuries / by J. McGregor-Robertson ; with an introduction by John G. McKendrick. Source: Wellcome Collection.
577/602 (page 505)
![DISPLACEMENT OF THE WOMB. The whole system becomes affected aud de- ranged, and if death does not occur directly from loss of blood, exhaustion is frequently the consequence. Treatment.—If the disease be detected early enough, its removal by the knife may etiect a cure, or at the least will for a season stop suf- fering and prolong life. Many methods of cure by medicines have been praised at different times, but all have been in the end found com- paratively useless. The foul discharge may be relieved by the injection with the enema syringe of water con- taining 10 grains of thymol to tlie ounce, or of a 2^ per cent solution of carbolic acid. To relieve pain opium in some form is the remedy. But it should be used under medical advice. Everything possible should be done to maintain the patient’s general health by plain nourishing food, the use of iron, quinine, and similar tonics, and the regulation of the bowels by such gentle medicines as a mineral water. Stimulants should be avoided as far as possible. Displacement and Falling (Prolapse) of the Womb.—Displacements of the womb are exceedingly common, commoner than is gener- ally supposed, frequently' existing without giv- ing rise to any raai’ked symptoms. At the same time the displacement may give rise to many and pronounced symptoms, which no treatment does anything to relieve except that of replacing, as nearly as possible, the womb in its original position. The womb is suspended, as it were, in the middle of the pelvic cavity (p. 22) with the bladder in front of it, and the termination of the bowel behind it. It is maintained in its position by its attachment to these organs, and by bands or ligaments of its own, and in its situation is freely movable in various directions. The upper end of the body is directed upwards and forwards, and the mouth downwards and backwards, so that, when the person is in the erect position, it may be said to incline forwards. Now it may not be maintained at its ordinary level, but sink somewhat doivmvards, for ex- ample, because of enlargement or congestion rendering it too heavy for its supports, or be- cause the supports have become stretched and weakened. This is called prolapse, and will vary in degi’ee according as the womb sinks lower and lower. If it sink greatly the mouth of the womb may appear at the external opening, and, in very extreme cases, it may appear entirely outside, which form is called procedentia. It naturally will drag down with it the wall of the bladder to which it is attached in front, and the wall of the bowel to which it is attached behind. Further, instead of being inclined forwards, as in the ordinary position, it may be tilted back- wards, in which case the body looks backwards and the mouth forwards, aud this backward tilting also varies in amount. Retroversion is the name applied to this displacement. Or the womb may be bent backwards on itself, so that the body of it is directed backwards, the mouth maintaining pretty nearly its proper position. It is doubled on itself. This is called retro- flexion. Again the forward slope may be exag- gerated, so that the womb tends to lie across the cavity. This is anteversion; or it may be bent forwards on itself, which is called ante- flexion. The causes of such altered positions are numerous. Congestion, overgrowth, the pre- sence of tumours, &c., adding to the weight of the organ, tend to displace it. A very common cause of this kind arises when a woman begins to ffo about too soon after a confinement. The womb has not had time to return to its natural size, and its supports, stretched and weakened by the pregnancy, are unable to bear up the unusually heavy womb, and thus it assumes an improper position. General ill-health may so diminish the vigour of the supports and diminish the tone of the womb itself as to occasion a “displacement.” Further, any undue pressure may force it out of place, and if this be long continued it does not get a chance of returning to its natural place. Undoubtedly a great cause of such pressure is the undue weight of clothes and tiht lacing. These diminish tlie size of the belly cavity by pinching in the waist. The bowels are pressed upon, and to find room press downwards on the womb, &c., forcing it out of position, and keeping it out of position. The pressure of a tumour in the belly may act in the same way. A tumour pressing ujiwards from below may also displace the womb, but in a different direction. As another example, the frequent existence of a distended bowel or over- full bladder, apt to occur in women, may occasion it. Undoubtedly falls, violent exertion and such agencies are often at work in producing such disturbances of position. In women who have borne children, the womb is often deprived of its due su])port from below by rupture of parts during labour, and it is then apt not to be duly maintained in proper place. It ought, also, to be noted that a womb, dis-](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28124674_0001_0577.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
