Observations on the diseases of the rectum / by T.B. Curling.

  • Curling, Thomas Blizard, 1811-1888.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Observations on the diseases of the rectum / by T.B. Curling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    anxious countenance, and emaciated appearance, com- monly observed in persons suffering from malignant disease. If complete obstruction of the bowel do not occur to accelerate a fatal termination, as not [infre- quently happens, fresh troubles arise. In consequence of a communication becoming established between the rectum and urethra or bladder in males, flatus escapes from the urethra, and liquid faeces pass with the urine; and in females, motions are discharged at the vagina. The passage of part of the contents of the bowels by these unnatural channels greatly increases the misery of the patient's condition, rendering him an object of disgust to himself, and offensive to those about him. An ulcerated opening into the peritoneum, allowing the escape of feculent matter into the abdomen, may excite peritonitis, and thus bring the case to a fatal termination; or, the powers of life gradually giving way, the patient becomes hectic and exhausted, and worn out by this painful and distressing malady. There is great variety, however, in the degree of suffering, and even of constitutional derangement, attending this disease. The sufferings are in some instances excruciating; in others, comparatively slight. I lately saw a man whose anus was blocked up with carcinomatous fungus, and who had an opening into his urethra; but the pains were not severe, nor had his constitution suffered to any great extent. His chief complaint was of gas escaping from the urethra. Cancer of the rectum occurs generally in middle age, i