Diseases and injuries of the eye : their medical and surgical treatment / by George Lawson.

  • Lawson George, 1831-1903.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diseases and injuries of the eye : their medical and surgical treatment / by George Lawson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    severe, is converted into almost pure pus^ The eyelids now become red and swollen, and then- tarsal margins caked together, pen up the discharge winch accnmnlates behind the hds, and streams over the ^lieeks when the eyes are opened. The qnantity of pns which literal y pours from between the eyelids in a bad case, and the rapidity with which it is secreted, are very remarkable In the sUghf. cases of purulent ophthalmia the dis- charo-e is of a whitish colour with scarcely a tmge ot Yellow, and it is not very abundant in quantity, in the vem seoeve forms of the disease the discharge is cf a deep yellow colour and very profuse. Between these extremes there are many gradations. ^ . ^ i i. Prognosis.—When a child suffering from purulent ophthalmia is seen sufficiently early, and proper reme- dies are rightly applied, recovery is almost certain, it should, however, be remembered that cases occasionally occur of so severe a nature that all treatment is unavai - able to arrest the progress of the disease, and one or bot r eves are rapidly and irrecoverably destroyed, in such instances it will generally be found that the discharge was of a deep yellow colour, very copious, and that it commenced on the first or second day after birth. It will also be probably ascertained on inquiry that tbe mother had gonorrho3a at the time of her confinement or leucorrhoca of so severe a type that the discharge was yellow and puriform. Treatment.—The indications for treatment are to wash away the discharge from the eye as often as it collects, and to use some astringent lotion to arrest the resecre- tion of the purulent matter. Lotions of alum, or of sulphate of zinc and alum (F. 47, 50), and drops ot nitrate of silver, are the most useful astringents m puru- lent ophthalmia. The lotion which I generally use is one of alum (F. 47). The mode, however, of applying the remedies is of as much importance as the remedies them- selves. The lotion should be gently squirted into the eye with an india-rubber syringe with an ivory nozzle, or with a small glass syringe, every half-hour or hour, according to the severity of the case, the object being to thoroughly cleanse the eye from all discharge as often as it is re- sccrcted. This treatment should be pursued by night as well as by day. The intervals between the use of the lotion may be increased as the discharge decreases in quantity. The carrying out of these instructions should