There are several instances on record of tolerance of foreign
bodies in the skin and muscles of the back for an extended
period. Gay speaks of a curious case in which the point of a
sheath-knife remained in the back of an individual for nine
years. Bush reported to Sir Astley Cooper the history of a man
who, as he supposed, received a wound in the back by canister
shot while serving on a Tartar privateer in 1779. There was no
ship-surgeon on board, and in about a month the wound healed
without surgical assistance. The man suffered little
inconvenience and performed his duties as a seaman, and was
impressed into the Royal Navy. In August, 1810, he complained of
pain in the lumbar region. He was submitted to an examination,
and a cicatrix of this region was noticed, and an extraneous body
about 1/2 inch under the integument was felt. An incision was
made down it, and a rusty blade of a seaman's clasp-knife
extracted from near the 3d lumbar vertebra. The man had carried
this knife for thirty years. The wound healed in a few days and
there was no more inconvenience.
Fracture of the lower part of the spine is not always fatal, and
notwithstanding the lay-idea that a broken back means certain
death, patients with well-authenticated cases of vertebral
fracture have recovered.
Pages:
1313
1314
1315
1316
1317
1318
1319
1320
1321
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337