The diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the rectum / by Wm. Allingham ; edited and revised with much additional new matter and numerous diagrams by Herbert Wm. Allingham.

  • William Allingham
Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the rectum / by Wm. Allingham ; edited and revised with much additional new matter and numerous diagrams by Herbert Wm. Allingham. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    side and at both ends, and has a well-fitting wooden plug; the whole is so shaped as to resemble, as much as possible, a forefinger. It is made by most instrument- makers—Ferguson, Weiss, Krohne, and others. ^ Some surgeons prefer the bi-valve speculum, and I like it also ; its only drawbacks are some difdculty of introduction, and the risk of mjm-ing the mucous membrane during with- drawal. When you desire to explore the rectum high up you may, with advantage, use a long metal tube with the interior ' nickeUed,' one end being trumpet-shaped and large. The Fig. 1.—Mb. Alungham's Foub-bladed Speculum. Fig. 2.—Speculum Ani. smaller end may be about three-quarters of an inch in dia- meter, and it is very easily introduced into the bowel by using as the j)lug a small india-rubber bag, which you can inflate with air by means of a syringe. Useful as the above is, to make a thorough examination of the rectvxm for the purpose of diagnosing the existence of ulcerations, malig- nant or other growths, too high up the bowel to reach with the finger, it is best to place the patient under the influence of an anaesthetic, and in the prone position, with the hips well elevated upon hard pillows, so that the intestines will gravitate towards the diaphragm, and then gradually and gently by palpation to dilate the sphincters, taking four or five minutes in accomplishing this operation. Wlien thoroughly done the rectum is opened to view, and, if one or Useof ic- two retractors are also used, nothing in the rectum can escape ^^'^'^^^'^^ careful observation. I need scarcely say, before any thorough
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