Observations on strictures of the rectum and other affections which diminish the capacity of that intestine : including spasmodic constriction of the anus, the haemorrhoidal tumours (called piles) excrescences, and the prolapsus ani and the mode of treatment ... / by W. White.

  • White, William.
Date:
1820
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on strictures of the rectum and other affections which diminish the capacity of that intestine : including spasmodic constriction of the anus, the haemorrhoidal tumours (called piles) excrescences, and the prolapsus ani and the mode of treatment ... / by W. White. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    membrane, like every other muscular structure, is liable to a spasmodic action, which produces a degree of con¬ traction beyond the natural; and in that state the canal loses the power of relaxing until the spasm is removed. When this happens it constitutes a disease, and is termed a spasmodic stricture. While a stricture is in this stage, it is only a wrong- action of the membrane of the urethra; and if the parts should be examined in their relaxed state, there would be no appearance of disease. When a por¬ tion of the urethra is disposed to contract beyond its na¬ tural easy state, this disposition commonly increases, till the part becomes incapable of falling back into a state of complete relaxation, and the canal always re¬ mains narrower at that part.” “In this stage it is both a permanent stricture and a spasmodic one. It is so far permanent, that it is al¬ ways narrower than the rest of the canal, and so far spasmodic, that it is liable to contract, occasionally in a still greater degree. A stricture in the urethra, whether in spasmodic or permanent state, is a contraction of the transverse fibres of the membrane which forms that canal. When this contraction is in small degrees, it appears upon examination after death, to be simply a narrowing of the canal at that part; but when the contraction is increased, it becomes a ridge projecting into the canal; this last is the appearance of what is understood by a permanent stricture.”