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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    add to the severity of the operation, and it will probably save a good deal of suffering afterwards, as the irrita- tion produced by the tight ligatures is very liable to cause the external piles to inflame. A few years ago, a young clergyman in the country, who had suffered severely from piles, took lodgings in town, to undergo the treatment necessary for their cure. As he was troubled with both internal and external haemorrhoids, I recommended the former to be tied and the latter removed with the knife. Being a timid man, and finding that his sufferings proceeded almost entirely from the internal piles, he would only consent to my operating on these. The consequence was, that the irritation excited by the ligatures caused the external piles to inflame and swell excessively; and this added so much to his distress, that on the third day after the operation I was obliged to excise them. Fortunately, chloroform saved him from what would otherwise have been a most painful operation, in the inflamed state of the parts. He afterwards did quite well. Ordinary bleeding from piles may be stopped by an injection of cold or iced water, or some astringent solution; but when the haemorrhage is continued, fol- lowing every evacuation and weakening the patient, other measures must be taken to arrest it. I have already alluded to the prejudice which exists against interfering with bleeding piles, from the belief that the loss of blood is good for the general health, or that clanger may be incurred in stopping an habitual dis- charge. On this ground bleeding is sometimes allowed