Antiseptic surgery; the principles, modes of application, and results of the Lister dressing / Tr. from the 2d and completely rev. ed. with the special sanction of the author, and ed. by Frederic Henry Gerrish.

  • Lucas-Championnière, Just Marie Marcellin, 1843-1913.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Antiseptic surgery; the principles, modes of application, and results of the Lister dressing / Tr. from the 2d and completely rev. ed. with the special sanction of the author, and ed. by Frederic Henry Gerrish. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

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    The better to hold it firmly upon the limbs, Lister usually places outside the dressing at its extremities two rubber straps, which by their elasticity keep the dressing so tight that no leakage or current of air can carry germs under the cuirass thus formed.1 These are the principal points in the practice of the dress- ing. But this is subject to a number of conditions accord- ing to the circumstances of the case. If the dressing cannot be made broad enough, it should be thicker. We use the gauze to fill up the hollows by which air may rush in, — the axilla, in amputations of the breast; the ear, in injuries of the parotid region, etc.; and the simple or antiseptic wadding around the edge, in all cases where it is needed to complete the closure of a dressing which has a tendency to curl up at the border. For certain dressings Lister still employs a lint saturated with boracic acid, well prepared in Edinburgh, and very con- venient, particularly when the correct application of the dressing just described is impossible. But for all these details, the experience and ingenuity of the surgeon must come into play; and when he knows the principles, he should seek for everything which will assist him in their application. Among the accessory means I will give a description of the compression with sponge which Lister recommends. When, in the course of an operation, he has made a very large wound, after closing it, he thinks it well to exercise some compression upon the sac thus formed; and for 1 The application of the rubher straps here mentioned is limited practically to dressings on the limbs. When the wound is on the trunk, a long, elastic bandage may be used to confine the upper and lower bor- ders of the dressing in the most desirable position, and yet not be so tight as to interfere with the necessary movements of the thorax and abdomen. The ordinary suspender-webbing answers admirably for this purpose.