The infant : a handbook of modern treatment / by Eric Pritchard.

  • Pritchard, Eric, 1864-1943.
Date:
1938
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The infant : a handbook of modern treatment / by Eric Pritchard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    pages 392,419 and 409) to avoid such attacks, or at least to miti¬ gate their severity, and although this method is often difficult to em¬ ploy, owing to the scarcity of serum, it is well worth trying (when the serum can be obtained) in all cases in which young children are known to have been exposed to sources of infection. In the case of both whooping-cough and influenza, prophylaxis by the use of vaccines is worth trying, so long as the latter are applied before the beginning of the incubation period ; after actual infection has taken place they are in my experience useless. Curative. The early treatment of bronchiectasis is in the main the same as the late treatment of broncho-pneumonia—that is to say, every possible precaution must be taken to prevent the acute condition developing into one of fibrosis and excavation. If complete resolution has not taken place within 6 months, one may reasonably assume that some degree of fibrosis has already occurred, and that there is no probability of a return to the status quo. Excavation and thickening of the bronchial wall with dilatation is a slow process, and its degree may be roughly gauged by the severity of the cough, and the amount of the expectoration, although the latter is sometimes difficult to estimate in a young child who swallows the sputum. The treatment of bronchiectasis when once it is fully established must be directed to the following points : 1. The maintenance of the general health and resisting power by provision of the best possible hygienic conditions, including good feeding, open-air treatment, deep breathing, and other special exercises for expanding the collapsed lung. 2. The treatment of any coexisting sinusitis, rhinitis, adenoids, enlarged tonsils, carious teeth, or oral sepsis, in order to prevent reinfection. 3. Effective expectoration of accumulated sputum by inversion or other postural means, or, in the case of very young children, by the occasional administration of an emetic such as : Wine of Ipecacuanha . . . .1 drachm (3-5 c.c.) Carbonate of Ammonium . . . 6 gr. (0-36 gm.) in Half an ounce of warm water (15 c.c.) 4. Antiseptic measures to prevent absorption of septic matter accumulated in suppurating cavities. 5. Surgical measures to promote drainage or obliteration of cavities. Drug Treatment. In my experience the most efficient antiseptic treatment for bronchiectatic cavities of the lung is the free admin-