Second memoir on excision of the knee-joint : to which is appended a remarkable example of the power of operative surgery in saving the same articulation / by Richard G.H. Butcher.

  • Butcher, Richard G. H., 1819-1891.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second memoir on excision of the knee-joint : to which is appended a remarkable example of the power of operative surgery in saving the same articulation / by Richard G.H. Butcher. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/82 (page 4)
    osseous. Whatever be its nature, the limb is a remarkably use¬ ful one to the boy.” Having written to Mr. Smith as to the condition of this boy at present, he politely answered my inquiry on the 1st of October, 1856:—“You ask for information as to the case ope¬ rated on by me two years since. I have seen the boy this morning; he walked to my house from a considerable distance, without a stick; he can walk and run about very well; takes a great deal of active exercise, and walks long distances, with¬ out the assistance of a stick even; of course, he has a high- heeled shoe, which is one inch and a half thicker than the other at the toe, and a little less than two inches at the heel. The limb is very well developed ; and, what is most satisfactory, is, that the union between the bones, at the knee, is almost quite firm; whereas, for many months after the cure was com¬ plete, and the boy was enabled to use the limb well, there was considerable mobility at the part operated on. You will, I am sure, agree with me, that this consolidation of the bones, gradually becoming more decided, as time elapses, is an im¬ portant and encouraging feature, and one worthy of notice— for those who oppose this operation have made, as one of their most prominent objections, the tardy and deficient union which undoubtedly occurs in some cases, when the powers of the sys¬ tem are at a low ebb.” The last of the six cases noticed in my former Table is that operated on by Mr. Erichsen. When it was reported that the patient “ was rapidly recovering, there was a good anchylosis, and the parts nearly quite firm.” Shortly after this time he was dismissed from the hospital, with perfect use of the limb; and, in answer to my inquiry a few days since, I received from Mr. Erichsen the following reply, dated October 5, 1856:— “ I have not seen the case to which you refer for a considerable time, nor do I know exactly where to find the child; but I should suppose that he is going on well, or I should most cer¬ tainly have seen him again.” The case upon which I operated in January, 1854, was eminently successful; the man has continued up to the present time in.admirable health. On the 8th of December, 1854, I described his condition as follows:—“ He stands erect, without the slightest droop. From being an emaciated, worn creature, he has become large and fat, with the entire muscular sys¬ tem well developed; the sickly hue and haggard expression have left his face ; and he now looks cheerful and happy. He feels in admirable health. On closely examining the limbs, the affected one has nearly recovered its dimensions and muscular