A new method of treating intra-capsular and extra-capsular fractures of the femur, and its upper third / by Wm.H. Pancoast.

  • Pancoast, William Henry, 1834-1897.
Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A new method of treating intra-capsular and extra-capsular fractures of the femur, and its upper third / by Wm.H. Pancoast. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    lowed by death. One such case which I saw about sixteen years ago, made a very strong impression upon me. It was a fracture of tlie neck of the femur, and, if I recollect.rightly, on the left side, in the person of a very aged lady, the sister of a distinguished naval officer. She bad arrived at the depot in Philadelphia, after a very long journey from the west, and was just rising from the seat to leave the car. Being stout, she made some little effort, and the left foot catching in the leg of the seat in front of her, twisted the thigh, and she fell back helpless. On being carried to the hotel, the surgeon found that the neck of the femur was fractured. I was asked to assist him, and I well recollect the trouble that the case gave us, and the suffering of the patient. Every means was tried to make her comfortable, and to keep the fragments in good position. But owing to the hot weather and her obesity, she could not bear any form of apparatus, and gradually sank. The best that could be done, was to arrange pillows upon a double inclined plane, and to support her strength as well as possible. She died in the course of a few days. I noticed, however, that the double inclined plane, and the sort of bed-chair we made for her, gave her the greatest comfort, and kept the fragments in the best position. I decided that if I should have a similar case, I would use some form of an inclined plane, and not worry and exhaust an aged patient, by endeavoring to fasten him or her, in an apparatus, with the desire of making bony union, which is always so doubtful ; but by using some form of the double inclined plane, make my patient comfortable with the hope of prolonging life, and at the same time placing the broken bone in the best position to re-establish its continuity. On the 18th of January, 1866,1 was called to see Mr. Wm. D., a prominent gentleman residing in Arch Street. I found that he had fractured his left femur through the neck, by simply stepping off from his marble step to the pavement, a height of about three inches. He was 75 years of age and feeble, and I did not think he could bear the confinement of a bed, so I ordered for him a Charleston reclinino- chair,