Venesection : its abuse formerly, its neglect at the present day / by Henry I. Bowditch.

  • Bowditch, Henry I. (Henry Ingersoll), 1808-1892.
Date:
1872
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Venesection : its abuse formerly, its neglect at the present day / by Henry I. Bowditch. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Case I. Forty years ago, when House Physician of the Massachu- setts General Hospital, I protested against venesection at the very moment that by orders of my superior, the attend- ing physician, I opened a-vein in the arm of a gu-1. The following are the circumstances of her case : She was 21 years old, immarried. Her mother had died with disease of the heart. The girl entered the Hospital June 21, 1831. Three years previously she had been there with what was called neuralgia, and she then had pain in the left side of the chest, with dyspnea. She was also unable to raise her left arm. These symptoms had followed after a fall from a chaise, resulting in a fracture of the clavicle, and some injury to the ribs. For two years 'and a half previous to her entrance, when I first saw her, she had had violent attacks referable to the heart. She stated that the fii'st attack was thought to be one of croup, and in all subsequent attacks she had had frequent desire'to raise phlegm from the throat. They were however chiefly marked by very great palpitation and dyspnoea, with a choking sensation and a very rapid and feeble pidse. They had occurred quite often ; and for them she had been bled 93 times—i. e., once in 10 days during two years and a half! The catamenia had been regular and natural. She had had some dysuria. She entered at the beginning of a paroxysm, and was sufiering 60 much that no fiill account could be obtained of her his- tory. I reported her as being in bed, looking very thin and pallid. The superficial veins were eveiy where distended with very pale-colored blood. She was panting, and could not easily speak. Her heart throbbed so violently that the bed-clothes were moved by its jerkings. The carotids were also beating strongly. On auscultation, the motions of the