Sunshine and fresh air vs. the Finsen ultra-violet rays and the Roentgen rays in tuberculosis of the joints and bones : read at the Fifty-fourth Annual Session of the American Medical Association, in the Section on Surgery and Anatomy, and approved for publication by the Executive Committee / De Forest Willard, M.D.

  • Willard, De Forest, 1846-1910.
Date:
1903
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Sunshine and fresh air vs. the Finsen ultra-violet rays and the Roentgen rays in tuberculosis of the joints and bones : read at the Fifty-fourth Annual Session of the American Medical Association, in the Section on Surgery and Anatomy, and approved for publication by the Executive Committee / De Forest Willard, M.D. 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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    ULTEA-VIOLET EAYS AND THE EOENT- GEN EAYS IN TUBEECULOSIS OF THE JOINTS AND BONES. DE FOREST WILLARD, M.D. Clinical Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, University of Pennsyl- vania ; Surgeon Presbyterian Hospital. PHILADELPHIA. The increasing nse of the Finsen light and of the o;-rays in the treatment of cancerous lesions of the skin and deeper tissues, and especially their use in lupus and other tubercular skin affections, naturally arouses the question of the utility of these rays in the cure of tuberculosis of the joints and bones. The results thus far obtained are certainly sufficient as regards tubercular lupus to war- rant the continuance of our efforts in this direction, but the opportunities for noting the effect on deeper tissues in tubercular joints have not yet been sufficient to war- rant definite conclusions. A large number of cases will be required to decide the question of benefit, since from the nature of the disease speedy conclusions will be un- justifiable. The course pursued by the tubercular process in joints is always slow, and there are such great dif- ferences in the rapidity of progress that the surgeon is very likely to draw wrong conclusions from the results of any method of treatment instituted. The inhibitory action of the actinic light ray and of the a;-ray on the growth of tubercular bacilli in the lab- oratory is undoubtedly positive, and such experimenta- tion is an essential part of our progress in accurate knowledge. Combined with these experiments, however,