On the pathology and treatment of fracture of the neck of the thigh bone / [Bransby Blake Cooper].

  • Cooper, Bransby Blake, 1792-1853
Date:
1845]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pathology and treatment of fracture of the neck of the thigh bone / [Bransby Blake Cooper]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ON THE PATHOLOGY AND TREATMENX-*^~ OP FRACTURE OP THE NECK OF THE THIGH BONE. BY BRANSBY B. COOPER, F.R S. In the remarks on this subject I shall chiefly confine myself to those fractures which take place within the capsular ligament, for these are the accidents which are least affected by the methods of * treatment commonly adopted for their alleviation and cure. The modes of treatment in use are of two kinds, and differ widely in their nature and objects. These differences in practice arise from corresponding diffe¬ rences in opinion, respecting the nature of the injury and its consequences; and, as it is highly necessary to appreciate these distinctions, I will, as briefly as possible, describe the two doctrines to which I allude. There are many surgeons who believe and teach, that fractures within the capsular ligaments unite by the same natural processes of reparation as fractures of the other parts of the osseous system, necessa¬ rily, one would suppose, inferring, that the structure of each is identical. It follows, of course, that those who hold these opi¬ nions employ mechanical means in order to obtain that union between the broken extremities, which they deem to be equally desirable and obtainable as in common cases of fracture. The second doctrine is that which the late Sir Astley Cooper has the just merit of having first promulgated, and which diametrically differs from that already described. He main¬ tained that, in fact, nature is opposed to the osseous reunion of such an injury, and that the attempt is never made after the fractured portions have been once separated; but only in such cases as those, in which the periosteum of the neck has not been torn through, so that the two portions remain in close apposition, and that then they only unite by a very slow process, similar to that which occurs in the reparation B