On the use massage and early passive movements in recent fractures and other common surgical injuries : and the treatment of internal derangements of the knee joint. Three clinical lectures delivered at St. George's Hospital / by William H. Bennett.

  • Bennett, William H.
Date:
1900
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the use massage and early passive movements in recent fractures and other common surgical injuries : and the treatment of internal derangements of the knee joint. Three clinical lectures delivered at St. George's Hospital / by William H. Bennett. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    lateral expansions are ruptured the more strength is there left in the joint after the fracture); ^ and (2) the amount of mobility finally retained by the upper fragment of the patella. If the fragment does not contract inveterate adhesions, and finally becomes freely movable upon the femur, a more or less useful limb follows, the strength of the limb, as a rule, then being in inverse ratio to the length of the uniting medium. If, on the other hand, fixation of this upper fragment occurs, then the interference with the mobility and strength of the joint is so great that the patient is much crippled. The first object, then, in a case of a fracture of the patella, whether wiring has been practised or not, is to prevent by constant manipulation any chance of adhesions forming around the upper fragment and fixing it to the femur—a treatment which excludes any form of splint which makes the patella inaccessible. This necessity for securing free mobility of the patella is not confined to cases of fracture, but if a rapid and perfect result is to be obtained it should be used in all cases of inflammation of the knee-joint, traumatic or otherwise, liable to be followed by stiffness. This is a point to which reference wiU again be made. As I have already said, this method of treatment makes the use of fixed immovable apparatus impossible, such, for example, as plaster-of-Paris, 1 See Present Position of the Treatment of Sim^jle Fractures.