The administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen for dental operations / by Frederick W. Hewitt.

  • Hewitt, Frederic W. (Frederic William), Sir, 1857-1916.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The administration of nitrous oxide and oxygen for dental operations / by Frederick W. Hewitt. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    interesting- case which occurred at the Dental Hospital, which is perhaps worth quotino-. The patient was a pale, thin, breathless man, who had been an in-patient at Charing Cross Hospital with oedema of the legs and cardiac symptoms following rheumatic fever. He was stated to have double aortic and mitral disease. The heart's action was very tumultuous and irregular. Nitrous oxide, free from oxygen, was administered to him by a skilled anaes- thetist on two occasions. On one of these his pupils became enormously dilated, his breathing very difficult, and his conjunctiva insensitive. His appearance was so alarming that no operation was performed. The tongue was drawn forwards, and gradually the threatening symptoms vanished. I sub- sequently administered nitrous oxide and oxygen to this patient. The pupils never became widely dilated, and no trouble what- ever occurred. In the case of a lad with aortic regurgitation, who was pale, probably from fright, before the administration, the pulse markedly improved as the inhalation proceeded, and the pallor lessened; during the operation the normal florid colour was completely restored. I have observed exactly the same train of symptoms in a patient who, at the time of the administration, had an ex- ceedingly feeble pulse, and was pale from