A remarkable case of spontaneous gangrene / [Henry William Fuller].

  • Henry William Fuller
Date:
[1847]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A remarkable case of spontaneous gangrene / [Henry William Fuller]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    A REMARKABLE CASE or SPONTANEOUS GANGRENE WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF THIS DISEASE. By henry william FULLER, M.B. and L.M. Cantab. medical-registrar at ST. GEORGE’S HOSPITAL. (From the London Medical Gazette.) Harriet Davies, a cook, set. 37, of a somewhat delicate habit, was admitted into St. George’s Hospital, on tRe 11th of June, 1846, under the catise of Dr. Page. She had been suddenly seized on the 8th instant, while apparently^n good health, with acute pain in the’right foot, which soon extended up and thigh, and occasionally, ime^, up as far as the loins. This pain, which she described as of a burning and pricking character, began without obvious cause, while she was standing perfectly quiet. It was most acute, perhaps, on the inner side of the leg and thigh, but by no means confined to that situation, for the whole limb was so exquisitely tender, that the slightest touch caused intolerable pain. She immediately applied for medical relief, and an embrocation was ordered, the application of which caused very great suffering, and gave rise to slight abrasion of the skin over the tibia. Its use was accordingly discontinued, and medicine was administered inter¬ nally instead. But no relief was ob¬ tained : the pain continued as severe, if not worse than ever; she was unable to sleep, lost her appetite, and felt greatly exhausted, so that she was induced on the 11th to apply for ad- mission into the hospital. ; On admission she was thin and pallid, but, unless her leg and foot were being touched, the expression of her coun¬ tenance was usually tranquil. Her skin was cool; her tongue moist, and slightly coated; her bowels reported acting regularly; her pulse 90, soft, and rather weak ; the catamenia regu¬ lar. Her urine was tolerably abun¬ dant, clear, pale, acid, and albuminous, coagulating freely with heat and nitric acid. There was not, and never had been, oedema of the extremities. She complained of pain in the loins, and of excessive pain in the right foot, leg, and thigh. On examination, her legs proved to be as thin as the rest ot her body, and on the left were