A letter addressed to James Syme, esq., Professor of Clinical Surgery, Edinburgh, in refutation of certain statements made both by him and others, his advocates, in relation to a case of stricture of the urethra, in which the operation of perineal section was performed / by Francis Burdett Courtenay.

  • Courtenay, Francis Burdett, 1811-1886.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to James Syme, esq., Professor of Clinical Surgery, Edinburgh, in refutation of certain statements made both by him and others, his advocates, in relation to a case of stricture of the urethra, in which the operation of perineal section was performed / by Francis Burdett Courtenay. 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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    (Second Lettee.) “ The patient sent by Mr. Courtenay was operated on in Edinburgh in the end of June, 1849. Before the middle of July he was so well as to return home to the south-west of England, with every apparent prospect of thorough recovery. Immediately after this long journey he suffered from irritation in one of his testicles; on account of which I sent him before the close of July a comforting note, with the assurance that he would nevertheless be soon well again. Accordingly, on August 1st, the patient wrote to me in glowing language how prosperously his case went on, and mentioned, among other tilings, that ‘ a few days since a medical referee of an assurance society, Dr. , formerly one of your pupils, voluntarily remarked that he should not now have the slightest hesitation in recommending my life for assurance, when in May last he did not consider it worth a year’s purchase.’ In November of the same year, in my pamphlet on ‘ Stricture of the Urethra and Fistula in Perineo,’ I described this case, among others, as having been cured; which it is evident I had good reason at that time for doing.* Before the end of the year, however, the cure proved not to be permanent or complete. This I have adverted to in a previous communication to you, in which I have likewise mentioned the probable cause, and suggested a precaution for avoiding such imper- fect success in future. When I last heard of this patient, in April, 1851, he continued to be in a materially improved state—not quite well, but in comfort, when he passed the catheter every five or six weeks.”f * What! in the face of the patient’s letter dated October 8th, and other pre- vious ones, all received before the publication of your book! f This jesuitical mode of stating afact is fullyexposed andrefutedat page 2G. Just Published by II. Baileieue, 219, Regent Street, London, 8vo., in cloth, price 3s. 6d., by post free 4s., THE CURE OF STRICTURE OF THE URETHRA, on Principles at once Simple, Safe, and Efficient, in even its most Inve- terate and apparently Intractable Forms. With Practical Observations on the Treatment of Spermatorrhoea by Cauterization. “ In proof of his views he (Mr. Courtenay) has given the history of a great many cases successfully treated, as bad as any which Mr. Syme adduced, and on which he had operated. Such are Cases ix., xi., xii., and xviii. No. ix. had resisted, for a period of twelve years, the treatment by dilatation, and was finally removed in as many weeks. But Cases xviii. and xix. appear, both in duration, severity, and complication of symptoms, of a more aggravated character than any detailed by Mr. Syme; and yet the treatmentadopted by Mr. Courtenay proved eminently successful.”—Professor Lizarson the Treatment of Stricture.