Cases and treatment of mastoid disease / by Lewis H. Taylor.

  • Taylor, Lewis Harlow.
Date:
[1891?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Cases and treatment of mastoid disease / by Lewis H. Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    8/16
    Case II.—A young man of twenty-five, a strong, hearty miner, from exposure to cold had contrac ted an acute otitis media for which he was properly treated by his family physician a w cek or more. When I was called to see him, symptoms of mastoid disease were so prominent that I at once advised operation. His suffering was intense and not relieved by opiates. Assisted by Dr. .Miner, who gave an anaesthetic, I cut down through the tissues more than an inch in depth, cutting at the same time the artery which spurted freely. The hemorrhage was readily controlled by pressure. In this case also, although the tissues were freely divided, there was no pus. Poultices were applied and the next day I found him much easier. Upon entering a blunt probe to the bone and simply breaking up the adhesions of the cut, the pus welled out abundantly. The symptoms rapidly subsided and he had an uninterrupted recovery. Case III.—Was a man aged about fifty, whom I saw in consultation and then took charge of at the request of his attending physician. He had had earache for some wTeeks with discharge of pus which had now stopped. At the time of my first visit he had much swelling and tenderness over the mastoid, with deep seated pain extending to the whole side of his head. He was first treated with poultices, but these had been discontinued and ice applied. There was evident Ly pus already formed under the periosteum, and I advised immediate operation, but this was delayed a day or two at the request of his physician to try the effecl of poultices agaiu. At the end of two days I performed Wilde's incision, without assistance and. as he was a plucky man, without anaesthetic. This pus at once discharged freely and, as the artery was cut, the blood also, but this was readily controlled by pressure. He stated that the pain of my finger pressing the artery was worse than that caused by the cut. He had been suffering fur many days and nights, unable to sleep and was on the border of delirium, but from the time of the operation on the symptoms rapidly subsided and he quickly recovered with a fair amount of hearing. Case IV.—I will relate a little more in detail as it illustrates the tendency of the disease in some persons, to subside and then from slight causes to be relighted. Miss W., age 215, was seen at her home Dec. 20, 1889. She was suffering intense pain in the left side of head, referred especially to the left ear. Watch could not be heard even in contact on the affected side. She stated that she was Inst troubled with earache early in November and was obliged to discontinue her occupation of teaching for four days. Her physician gave her drops for her car, she got better and resumed her duties, but could not hear. There was also a swelling back of the ear at the time, to which she applied a paint under the doctor's direction. She had another attack of pain right after Thanksgiving and got better. Then again on Dec. 18. She went to Music Hall in the evening of Dec. 19, and returned home with the earache, and now, Dec. :Hh has severe pain over the left side of her head, in left ear, and particularly over the mastoid. She had been taking morphine pills but they did not relieve her. Mastoid region is swollen and somewhat (edematous. Pulse 100, temperature 102. I used syringe and Politzer's inflation, making hearing two inches, and ordered two leeches to the mastoid, to he followed by poultices. Dec. 21, considerable pain through the night but not much better. Ordered Sulphide of Calcium gr. 1-10 every two hours.