The orthopedic treatment of paralysis of the anterior muscles of the thigh / by A.B. Judson.

  • Judson, Adoniram Brown, 1837-1916.
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The orthopedic treatment of paralysis of the anterior muscles of the thigh / by A.B. Judson. 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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    pened in two cases which I can recall. The desper- ate condition of these patients is further illustrated by the fact that exsection of the knee has been repeatedly performed to secure anchylosis in the straight position.1 * 3 Dr Thomas G. Morton ingeniously formed a stump for the application of an artificial leg by flexing the leg on the atrophied thigh and binding the two together, the foot being in contact with the natis. If these pa- tients had been furnished, from the early age at which infantile paralysis occurs, with a splint which had the power to keep the knee stiff in walking, the circulation would have been encouraged, the limb would have de- veloped to a fair degree, contraction of the hamstrings would have been prevented, and adult age might have been reached with such a degree of stability in the knee- joint that the apparatus might have been discarded. I desire to present a very simple splint, designed to keep such a limb straight during locomotion. Retentive force applied at the points and in the directions in- dicated by the arrows in Fig. i will keep the limb straight, and this is accomplished by the splint which is represented in Fig. 2. I-do not say that this is not done by other splints. Some of them, however, have so many buckles, straps, movable joints, artificial muscles, and springs, that they are often inefficient and require frequent repairs. 1 he one which is here described can hardly get out of order, and requires attention only when it is outgrown. I therefore make no apology for devoting a few lines to describing its details. In practice the details are quite as important as the principles involved. In the first place, the splint should be made of trac- table steel, so that it may be bent to fit the limb smoothly and avoid the bony prominences of the knee and ankle. The upright may lie on the outer or the inner side of the limb, the choice being decided by the condition of the ankle. As a rule, these cases show some muscular de- 1 Dr. Stephen Smith : Transactions of the New York State Medical A^ocia tion, 1884. Sol. i.. PP- 3’*-3*7. Or. AP Morgan Vance: New York Med.cal Journal, November 7, 1885, pp. 5x2-514* 3 Philadelphia Medical Times, April 8, 1882, pp. 473, 474*