Case of the high operation of lithotomy : in which unusual difficulty was experienced in the extraction of the stone / by George Ballingall.

  • Ballingall, George, 1780-1855.
Date:
[1826]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Case of the high operation of lithotomy : in which unusual difficulty was experienced in the extraction of the stone / by George Ballingall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    above the brim of the pelvis, and wholly above the wound. Attempts were now made to seize the stone with the forceps, which repeatedly slipped, bringing away with them considerable fragments of the stone. It being obvious, that nothing was to be gained by prolonging the incision downwards, it was now dilated upwards, on the point of the finger; and the attempts to bring away the stone by the for¬ ceps, scoop, and fingers in the rectum, were perse¬ vered in for some time without success. The stone, however, was brought nearer to the external orifice, and retained in that situation by the finger in ano. No farther prolongation of the wound upwards (how¬ ever desirable) could be attempted, the peritoneum having been already laid bare, and the intestine threatening to protrude. Under these circumstances, an attempt was made to gain a little space, by cut¬ ting transversely; and a few fibres of the bladder were divided in this direction on the right side, when the stone was extracted, with a moderate de¬ gree of force. A quantity of tepid water was now thrown forcibly into the bladder, and the fragments washed out. The edges of the wound were besmeared with oil, with a view of preventing, as much as pos¬ sible, the insinuation and lodgment of urine in the cellular membrane. Two stitches were passed through the upper end of the incision, supported by a strap of adhesive plaster: its lower extremity was left open, covered only by a slip of simple dressing, and a com¬ press of soft lint. An elastic gum catheter was lodged in the bladder, and the patient conveyed to