Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 edition. Excerpt: ... be performed after abortion or parturition at term, the position of the patient should be the same--the dorsal recumbent, with the knees and shoulders raised. The operator should pass his left hand or part of it into the uterus, while he presses down the fundus with his right. (d.) Extraction of the Child by Forceps.--There is great difference of opinion in Europe as to the position in which a woman should be placed during this operation. Here our patients are placed on their left sides; on the Continent they are made to lie upon their backs. It is probable that both positions have their advantages, the lateral being the better early, and the dorsal late, in the operation. Except for disturbing the patient there can be no reason why both postures should not be successively employed, but by bringing her hips well to the edge of the bed and separating the knees, it will seldom be found necessary during the use of forceps to prescribe any other than the left lateral posture. The foregoing remarks apply equally well to the operation of cephalotripsy. (e.) Craniotomy.--The patient should lie upon her left side during this operation, with her hips projecting slightly over the edge of the bed. This posture, besides being most convenient for the operator, prevents the bed being soiled, as it allows the blood, brain substance, and water injected into the cranial cavity, to flow directly into a basin. This position is also suitable for the use of the perforator and craniotomy forceps. (f.) Symphyseotomy.-- The woman should be placed on her back, with her shoulders low and the pelvis raised. When the patient is in this posture the child gravitates towards the thorax, and the fetal head is thus prevented from pressing upon the pubes and complicating...
