The pathology and treatment of stricture of the urethra and urinary fistulæ / by Henry Thompson.

  • Thompson, Henry, Sir, bart., 1820-1904.
Date:
1858
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The pathology and treatment of stricture of the urethra and urinary fistulæ / by Henry Thompson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    40/498 (page 8)
    DIVISIONS OF URETHRA. The value of these researches is found in the practical application ol the principles which result from them, to the employment of instruments in the urethra during life. Granted that constant rela- tions of size, between the different parts of the canal, exist, and that the external meatus is known to be, with very few exceptions, the smallest of all; it follows, that an instrument which fills that orifice without over-stretching it, must be able to pass through its whole course, unless some obstruction be present. Thus, to some extent, it may be regarded as a key to the capacity of the rest of the canal! As regards the actual average of measurements met with in practice it is seldom that No. 12 cannot be fairly introduced into the adult urethra, while Noa. 13 or 15 are often admissible. The diameters of these instruments are, respectively, three-tenths, and three and a half tenths of an inch. We now come to the consideration of the anatomical divisions of the urethra, which have been used for facility of description, in relation to their external connections and internal conformation. They are three in number, viz., the Prostatic, the Membranous, and the Spongy portions. The Prostatic Part will be at once understood to indicate that portion of the canal which traverses the prostate. Its length de- pends upon the size of this organ, and in health averages about an inch and a quarter* Its width is more constant than that of any other part of the urethra, from the surrounding structure being less susceptible of sudden change in size ; at the same time it is much more dilatable; while its upper part, close to the neck of the bladder, is more resistant and unyielding. At its commencement, immediately in front of the uvula vesicae, which seems to fill up the internal urethral orifice in the ordinary or quiescent condition of the parts, when the urine is not flowing, it is about three or four lines * LENGTH OF THE PROSTATIC PORTION OP THE URETHRA. Boyer regards it as varying between . . . .15 and 18 lines. Lisfranc „ „ ... Ducamp ,, ... Phillips ,, ,, . LENGTn OF THE MEMBRANOUS PORTION. Boyer regards it as about .... Lisfranc regards it as varying between Ducamp regards it as about .... Phillips considers it as about an inch in length superiorly; inferiorly about four or five lines. 8 and 11 12 and 15 12 and 15 12 7 and 11 9 or 10