A manual of the diseases of the eye, or, treatise on ophthalmology / revised and enlarged by H. Houston.

  • Littell, S (Squier), 1803-1886.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of the diseases of the eye, or, treatise on ophthalmology / revised and enlarged by H. Houston. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

    72/342 (page 46)
    The treatment must be conducted on the general prin- ciples applicable to erysipelas in other parts of the body, emetics, cathartics, and venfesection will be necessary to allay the constitutional disturbance, and must be employed according to circumstances, together with appropriate remedies for the relief of the local affection,—leeches, evaporating lotions, &c. &c.: when suppuration is threat- ened, it may sometimes be averted by an early incision through the integuments, and at a later period, the opening thus made, will afford a ready outlet to the pus, and dis- organized cellular membrane. The matter m these cases evinces little disposition to approach the surface, and if the surgeon should delay interference till it have begun to acu- minate, irretrievable mischief might be produced. [In all cases where an incision is made in the palpebra, it is necessary to watch attentively the heahng of the wound, lest the cicatrix should become too much con- tracted, and occasion ectropium or lagophthalmia. Should this tendency of the cicatrix to become shortened be per- ceptible, and which frequently occurs where there is loss of the substance of the skin, the edges of the wound should be kept asunder by slips of adhesive plaster, one end of which should be fixed to the edge of the wound, and the other to the cheek and forehead. The development of granulations is tlius promoted, and a cicatrix of sufficient lengffi is thus obtained. When there is gangrene of the eyelid, it sometimes causes obliteration of the lachrymal duct, ectropium, entropium, or lagophthalmia. Mr. Lawrence has seen half a dozen cases of eversion of the superior tarsus, and distressing deformity from this cause.]