A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen.

Date:
1893
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handbook of local therapeutics / edited by Harrison Allen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    107/554 (page 95)
    doin-this it should always be remembered that a healthy bladder, and imuch more an inflamed one, can be irritated by the introduction of large and rigid instruments. The viscus is accustomed ta be distended grad- ually by the urine; and the aqueous distention should conform, at least in some respects, to that process. Thompson advises, when washmg out the bladder for Cystitis, etc., never to introduce at one time more than two ounces, and even this quantity is sometimes too large. A flexible catheter should be used, and the water should be at a temperature of ioo° F. The fluid should be thrown in very slowly, and the injection repeated several times until the fluid comes away clear. As Thompson states, washing out the bladder may be either an efficacious modq of treatment, or a mere contrivance for inducing serious irritation. The propriety of washing out the bladder, either with plain or medicated water, is considered by Agnew to be of doubtful propriety. Plain warm water is often used as an injection- in the early stages of Gonorrhcea, before the mucous membrane will bear stimulating or astringent applications. It is also an efficient application to the integument of the penis in this disease. Bumstead, Taylor, and Milton ( Milton on Gonorrhcea, p. 2i) advise that the water be as hot as can be borne. Thus applied, in the early stages of the disease, the weight felt about the testicles disap- pears, the pain on making water and using injections is assuaged, and the prepuce and glans rapidly regain a normal temperature and color. The patient should immerse the organ in a cup of hot water for a few minutes after urinating, and before and after using an injection. In the treatment of Phagedenic Chancroid, prolonged hot water Sitz baths used for many hours are recommended by Hill and Cooper (p. 486). When it involves the penis, the organ may be immersed in a suitable sized bottle or a rubber bag, frequently changed, and kept at as high a temperature as the patient can bear. In addition to the above, it has been thought advisable, at the risk 01 slight repetitions, to include at this place a separate section on the use of hot water in gynecology. For a full understanding of these beneficial effects of hot water the profession is indebted to Emmet. This writer states that heat, unless at a temperature which would destroy the parts, does not act as promptly in causing contraction of blood-vessels as does cold. In fact, its immediate effect is to cause relaxation and to increase the congestion of the parts, but if its application be prolonged, reaction ensues and contraction takes place. In other words, the reac- tion from heat is contraction. The immediate effect of cold upon the capillaries is contraction, and with reaction comes dilatation ; but the reverse is true of heat which causes first dilatation and secondarily con- traction. It is considered that, except in displacements of the uterus, more can be accomplished in the treatment of diseases of women by the