Palla Ákos szerk.: Az Országos Orvostörténeti Könyvtár közleményei 3. (Budapest, 1956)

J. BALOGH, M. D.: The hungarian traumatic surgery in the first part of the 19th century

Soviet authors recommand the application of continued cooling in the treatment of crural ulcer and other diseases causing extremital gangrene. The treatment of pseudoarthrosis, as it had been practiced in 1838, has been described above. In 1847 Diffenbach suggested that in oases of pseudoarthrosis the bone should be foraged through the skin and an oiled ivory rodlet be inserted into the bore for 14 days. The resulting bone inflammation coates the fracture ends with a hard crust. In 1868. Luimniczer, the heroic military surgeon of the War of Liberation, exposes the site of nonunion, saws the ends and unites them by wire sutures. He describes the most suitable metals that can be used in surgery. In fractures of the olecranon, he uses wire sutures for uniting the fracture ends. Lumniczer refers to pseudoarthrosis as ,,imperfect joints" and he suggested the term ,,open fracture" still in use. In an article in O. H. (10, 177, 1862) it is reported that Emil Nágel, professor of surgery, has written a book on fractures of the bone and selections are presented from that book. It is mentioned, among others, that the incidence of fractures is strongly influenced by sex, age, occupation and season. Any bone may be fractured. Reference is made to Gurlt, an author who worked up 12 584 cases of the commonest fractures. The diseases in which fractures are common are discussed: cancer, syphilis, scurvy, etc. From his own practice be presents the case of a patient, who had been under treatment for syphilitic facial paralysis for years and fractured the femur while trying to pull off his boot. Distinction is made between direct and indirect fractures, between cases in which the fracture ends are dislocated and ones ones in which the ends are „wedged in". He estimates the duration of healing at 25 to 60 days and writes that for good healing it is essential that the fracture ends be in close contact with oneanother. When the fractured bone is poorly nourished or soft tissue separates the fracture ends, pseudoarthrosis, „articulatio spuria" will develop. Fractures in old people tend to be associated with hypostatic pneumonia.