Excision of the knee-joint : a description of a new apparatus for the after treatment with illustrative cases / by Patrick Heron Watson.

  • Watson, Patrick Heron, Sir, 1832-1907.
Date:
1867
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Excision of the knee-joint : a description of a new apparatus for the after treatment with illustrative cases / by Patrick Heron Watson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    33/80 (page 31)
    for both splint and gypsum bandage, has rendered even this un¬ necessary. In this respect, the apparatus contrasts strongly with the other measures recommended for effecting retention during the after- treatment, and tends, therefore, to render the progress of the case a much more agreeable one, both for the patient and his surgeon. I can quite conceive that the permanence of the apparatus may, in certain circumstances, form a theoretical objection to its employ¬ ment. One is so ready to think that a permanent apparatus which does not yield, which covers up the greater part of the limb con¬ cealing it from observation, must be liable to impede the circulation of the extremity, to cause constriction or undue pressure at some part, to interfere with swelling, in fact, to preclude that constant and close attention to every part of the limb during the after-treatment which, by some, is considered an essential of any good apparatus. To those who have familiarized themselves with the employment of the starch, dextrin, gypsum, or paraffine apparatus, in the treatment of fractures, and especially of compound fractures, this objection is not likely to have much weight; and, when we recollect how safely the patient’s sensations of ease, or the contrary, may be taken as a true exponent of the progress of matters within the hard case, the objection to the use of such an apparatus in the treatment of excision of the knee will at once be removed. Should we wish to remove the apparatus, either partially or completely, at any period of the after-treatment, this is easily effected by shears for the purpose. The powerful curved instruments, with short blades, of unequal length, made by Lutter, of Berlin, seem to me preferable to those {Sleetin'1 s scissors) commonly supplied by instrument makers in this country, which, by the length of blade, in proportion to the handles, lose power and accuracy in their application. 4. The Ease icith which the Apparatus can he obtained, its Sim¬ plicity , and Cheapness.—An iron rod, easily procured from any smith, a long Gooch splint, fashioned for the purpose by the carpenter, or made of two common Gooch splints, of a size suited for the thigh or leg, stitched together, and then cut to suit the limb in length and contour,