Peritonitis in the thoracic cavity is a curious condition which
may be brought about by a penetrating wound of the diaphragm. In
1872 Sargent communicated to the Boston Society for Medical
Improvement an account of a postmortem examination of a woman of
thirty-seven, in whom he had observed major injuries twenty years
before. At that time, while sliding down some hay from a loft,
she was impaled on the handle of a pitchfork which entered the
vagina, penetrated 22 inches, and was arrested by an upper left
rib, which it fractured; further penetration was possibly
prevented by the woman's feet striking the floor. Happily there
was no injury to the bladder, uterus, or intestines. The
principal symptoms were hemorrhage from the vagina and intense
pain near the fractured rib, followed by emphysema. The
pitchfork-handle was withdrawn, and was afterward placed in the
museum of the Society, the abrupt bloody stain, 22 inches from
the rounded end, being plainly shown. During twenty years the
woman could never lie on her right side or on her back, and for
half of this time she spent most of the night in the sitting
position. Her last illness attracted little attention because her
life had been one of suffering.
Pages:
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222
1223
1224
1225
1226
1227
1228
1229
1230
1231
1232
1233