The prophylaxis and treatment of internal diseases : designed for the use of practitioners and of advanced students of medicine / by F. Forchheimer.

  • Forchheimer, F. (Frederick), 1853-1913.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The prophylaxis and treatment of internal diseases : designed for the use of practitioners and of advanced students of medicine / by F. Forchheimer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    new flannel should be put upon the skin, and the ice bag should remain day and night. Pressure is applied by the use of flexile collodium (49 parts of collodium, 1 part of castor oil—Austrian Pharm.:—without turpentine, as is directed in the British, German, and United States pharmacopoeias), the coating to be. kept intact by repeated applications. If fever continues and the gland does not become smaller, poultices should be applied, the use of collodium being continued, especially around the periphery of the node, in order to prevent infection of the superficial lymphatics (v. Erysipelas). After three or four days of poulticing, a small, deep incision should be made, sooner if fluctuation is present, the poultices to be continued. Even if pus has not been found, the incision does good: it relieves tension and makes a place of less resistance into which the pus can flow when found in larger quantities. Injections of weak antiseptics, carbolic acid, hydrogen peroxide (not to ex- ceed one per cent), are made into the incision. If large quantities of pus form, a deep and large incision should be immediately made. If, notwith- standing all that has been done, cellulitis or angina Ludovici develops, the skin should be incised wherever there is swelling, and collargol or unguentum Crede applied, so as to be introduced into the subcutaneous tissue. Enlarge- ment of lymph nodes after the disease has run its course is best met with syr. ferri iodidi or small doses of pure creosote (1U ss.-ij three times daily). For nephritis and uraemia, as well as the heart complications, the reader is referred to the proper sections. The rheumatism is either septic, tuberculous, or genuine articular rheu- matism, and must be treated accordingly (v. chapters on these respective subjects). The Gastrointestinal Tract.—The vomiting should be treated as outlined under typhoid fever; as a rule, it ceases with the appearance of the eruption. Diarrhea should be treated as to the portion of the bowel from which it comes: if from the small intestine, by diet and bismuth, astringents, or opium; if from the large intestine, by means of injections (v. Diseases of the Bowels). SEQUELAE The debilitated condition in which serious attacks leave patients is to be met with iron preparations, and plenty of food and fresh air. The local damage to the joints, ears, and heart is to be met by appropriate treatment. CONVALESCENCE When desquamation begins, it is wise to take measures to shorten the period of convalescence. This can be done by hastening the process of des- quamation itself. Schneeman was the first to use inunctions in scarlet fever, claiming specific properties for them. While there is no evidence that they act in this way, they undoubtedly prevent the dissipation of the scaling skin, and they facilitate its removal. For these purposes I have my patients rubbed twice daily with some clean fat containing much water—cacao butter, cold cream, or lanoline—and daily the patient receives a warm bath, the water of which is carefully disinfected after it has been used. For the feet and hands, frequent soaking in warm water is of value. No patient should be allowed