Case of internal strangulation of the intestines : with remarks / by George F. Lane.

  • Lane, George F. (George Frederick), 1828?-1856.
Date:
[1851]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of internal strangulation of the intestines : with remarks / by George F. Lane. 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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    CASE INTERNAL STRANGULATION OE THE INTESTINES: WITH REMARKS. By GEORGE F. LANE, M.R.C.S. RESIDENT-SURGEON AT THE ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL. Read on Thursday, Jan. 9, 1851. Many cases of disease are brought before the attention of every surgeon who has an extensive field for observation, in the treatment of which, the resources of medicine and surgery are almost entirely unavailing, and of these, none are more painful to witness, or to treat, than those which result from invincible obstruc- tion of the intestinal tube; the unsuc- cessful treatment of such cases depend- ing upon our ignorance of the nature of the malady itself, which necessitates the administration of a mere routine of reme- dies, without our being able to arrive at more than a surmise as to the position and kind of obstruction. In some instances moreover, as in the one before us, certain symptoms exist, calculated to mislead and considerably augment the usual difficulty in making a correct diagnosis. Nevex-theless, there are certain facts to be elicited from the history of these cases and the sensations of the patient, which, when carefully studied, may lead us to correct conclu- sions as to the seat and nature of the obstruction; and the importance of hav- ing a series of these cases upon record, will, I presume, justify my bringing forward the following one, which, though isolated, is one of a class in which no other measures than those of a mecha- nical nature can be supposed to have any chance of success; and hence it be- comes important that we should study those symptoms, which lead to a correct diagnosis at an early period, when the more advantageous circumstances of the case are most likely to conduct an operation to a successful issue. On Thursday, the 20th of December last, Mr. Gay was requested, in consul- tation with Mr. Burchell of Shoreditch, to see Thomas Wallis, a small but well- proportioned man, aged 42, under the following circumstances:— About four years previously, and soon after lifting a heavy weight, he was sud- denly seized with severe pain, referred to the left iliac region, which imme- diately afterwards extended itself across the abdomen to the right side; the pain, which was of a “ pinching” character, occurred in paroxysms, with intervals of perfect repose, and was accompanied with constipation, sickness, profuse perspiration, and, in his own words, “ great helplessness.” These symptoms increased in severity, the pain being at times agonising, and it was not until after four days, when copious action of the bowels ensued, that they subsided as rapidly as they had set in. From that time up to the period of which I am about to speak more parti- cularly, he had, according to his own account, at least thirty attacks of a similar character, lasting from one to four days, always commencing in the left side, and marked by severe pain, constipation, and extreme debility; and occasionally with the superaddition of