Author: John Elliotson

Publisher: Forgotten Books

Published: 2016-12-16

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 9781334630385

Excerpt from The Principles and Practice of Medicine: Founded on the Most Extensive Experience in Public Hospitals and Private Practice; And Developed in a Course of Lectures Delivered at University College, London On the immediate occurrence of haemorrhage from the lungs, it is right to treat it as in ammation -to bleed in the arm freely; and to set the patient upright, and keep him so; in order to make him feel as faint as possible. You should keep him in that position, instead of allowing him to lie down. It is safe to apply ice to the front of the chest; and this, I think, should always be done. There can be no impropriety in it. As soon as you have bled, until ice can be procured, you should throw cold water on the chest; and endeavour to produce a contraction of the end of the vessels - in the same way as you proceed in the case of the womb. But generally the bleeding soon stops; for a patient seldom dies of haemoptysis at the time. Bleeding at the arm, throwing open the windows and doors, and taking the clothes off the chest, answer very well. The patient should not be allowed to move. He should be made easy and comfortable; but he should not be allowed to move, or to speak. I have often made persons persevere, for a fortnight together, after dangerous haemorrhages - making them write for whatever was wanted. It is proper to starve the patient; to give him nothing but plain water, milk and water, lemonade, or things of that description; and it is surprising how patients, in this disease, bear cold. I know not a single instance of a person suffering in ammation of the chest, from all this exposure; notwithstanding that, in other circumstances, he would, in all probability, have suffered severely. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."