Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine [409]
wound was dressed, and never had a single subsequent bad symptom; he was discharged on May 24th, the wound being entirely healed, with the exception of a cartilage of a rib which had not reunited.
Rogers mentions the case of a carpenter of thirty-six who was struck by a missile thrown by a circular saw, making a wound two inches above the umbilicus and to the left. Through the opening a mass of intestines and a portion of the liver, attached by a pedicle, protruded. A portion of the liver was detached, and the liver, as well as the intestines, were replaced, and the man recovered.
Baillie, Bhadoory, Barker, Edmundson, Johnson, and others, record instances of abdominal wounds accompanied by extensive protrusion of the intestines, and recovery. Shah mentions an abdominal wound with protrusion of three feet of small intestine. By treatment with ice, phenol, and opium, recovery was effected without peritonitis.
Among nonfatal perforating gunshot wounds of the abdomen, Loring: reports the case of a private in the First Artillery who recovered after a double gunshot perforation of the abdomen. One of the balls entered 5 1/2 inches to the left of the umbilicus, and two inches above the crest of the ilium, making its exit two inches above the crest of the ilium, on a line with and two inches from the 4th lumbar vertebra. The other ball entered four inches below and to the rear of the left nipple, making its exit four inches directly below the point of entrance. In their passages these balls did not wound any of the viscera, and with the exception of traumatic fever there was no disturbance of the health of the patient. Schell records the case of a soldier who was wounded July 3, 1867, by a conoid ball from a Remington revolver of the Army pattern. The ball entered on the left side of the abdomen, its lower edge grazing the center of Poupart's ligament, and passing backward, inward, and slightly upward, emerged one inch to the left of the spinous process of the sacrum. On July 6th all the symptoms of peritonitis made their appearance. On July 11th there was free discharge of fecal matter from both anterior and posterior wounds. This discharge continued for three days and then ceased. By August 12th both wounds were entirely healed. Mineer reports a case of a wound from a revolver-ball entering the abdomen, passing through the colon, and extracted just above the right ilium. Under simple treatment the patient recovered and was returned to duty about ten weeks afterward.
There are a number of cases on record in which a bullet entering the abdominal cavity is subsequently voided either by the bladder or by the bowel. Ducachet mentions two cases at the Georgetown Seminary Hospital during the late war in which Minie balls entering the abdominal wall were voided by the anus in a much battered condition. Bartlett reports the case of a young man who was accidentally shot in the abdomen with a Colt's revolver. Immediately after the accident he complained of constant and pressing desire to void his urine. While urinating on the evening of the third day, the ball escaped from the urethra and fell with a click into the chamber. After the discharge of the ball the intolerable symptoms improved, and in two or three weeks there was complete recovery. Hoag mentions a man who was wounded by a round musket-ball weighing 400 grains. It had evidently passed through the lung and diaphragm and entered the alimentary canal; it was voided by the rectum five days after the injury. Lenox mentions the fact of a bullet entering the abdominal wall and subsequently being passed from the rectum. Day and Judkins report similar cases. Rundle speaks of the lodgment of a bullet, and its escape, after a period of seven and one-half years, into the alimentary canal, causing internal strangulation and death.
Wounds of the liver often end very happily, and there are many cases on record in which such injuries have been followed by recovery, even when associated with considerable loss of liver-substance. In the older records, Glandorp and Scultetus mention
Rogers mentions the case of a carpenter of thirty-six who was struck by a missile thrown by a circular saw, making a wound two inches above the umbilicus and to the left. Through the opening a mass of intestines and a portion of the liver, attached by a pedicle, protruded. A portion of the liver was detached, and the liver, as well as the intestines, were replaced, and the man recovered.
Baillie, Bhadoory, Barker, Edmundson, Johnson, and others, record instances of abdominal wounds accompanied by extensive protrusion of the intestines, and recovery. Shah mentions an abdominal wound with protrusion of three feet of small intestine. By treatment with ice, phenol, and opium, recovery was effected without peritonitis.
Among nonfatal perforating gunshot wounds of the abdomen, Loring: reports the case of a private in the First Artillery who recovered after a double gunshot perforation of the abdomen. One of the balls entered 5 1/2 inches to the left of the umbilicus, and two inches above the crest of the ilium, making its exit two inches above the crest of the ilium, on a line with and two inches from the 4th lumbar vertebra. The other ball entered four inches below and to the rear of the left nipple, making its exit four inches directly below the point of entrance. In their passages these balls did not wound any of the viscera, and with the exception of traumatic fever there was no disturbance of the health of the patient. Schell records the case of a soldier who was wounded July 3, 1867, by a conoid ball from a Remington revolver of the Army pattern. The ball entered on the left side of the abdomen, its lower edge grazing the center of Poupart's ligament, and passing backward, inward, and slightly upward, emerged one inch to the left of the spinous process of the sacrum. On July 6th all the symptoms of peritonitis made their appearance. On July 11th there was free discharge of fecal matter from both anterior and posterior wounds. This discharge continued for three days and then ceased. By August 12th both wounds were entirely healed. Mineer reports a case of a wound from a revolver-ball entering the abdomen, passing through the colon, and extracted just above the right ilium. Under simple treatment the patient recovered and was returned to duty about ten weeks afterward.
There are a number of cases on record in which a bullet entering the abdominal cavity is subsequently voided either by the bladder or by the bowel. Ducachet mentions two cases at the Georgetown Seminary Hospital during the late war in which Minie balls entering the abdominal wall were voided by the anus in a much battered condition. Bartlett reports the case of a young man who was accidentally shot in the abdomen with a Colt's revolver. Immediately after the accident he complained of constant and pressing desire to void his urine. While urinating on the evening of the third day, the ball escaped from the urethra and fell with a click into the chamber. After the discharge of the ball the intolerable symptoms improved, and in two or three weeks there was complete recovery. Hoag mentions a man who was wounded by a round musket-ball weighing 400 grains. It had evidently passed through the lung and diaphragm and entered the alimentary canal; it was voided by the rectum five days after the injury. Lenox mentions the fact of a bullet entering the abdominal wall and subsequently being passed from the rectum. Day and Judkins report similar cases. Rundle speaks of the lodgment of a bullet, and its escape, after a period of seven and one-half years, into the alimentary canal, causing internal strangulation and death.
Wounds of the liver often end very happily, and there are many cases on record in which such injuries have been followed by recovery, even when associated with considerable loss of liver-substance. In the older records, Glandorp and Scultetus mention