Bursitis Subacronialis, or Periarthritis of the Shoulder Joint (Sub-Deltoid Bursitis) details from bookadda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1908 Excerpt: ... were treated by the use of this splint. After the adhesions were broken it was applied as described in the former paper, and allowed to remain on from one day to one week. Once or twice a day it was removed, and the arm gently moved without allowing the tuberosity to come out from under the acromion. Usually the patient could hold it actively in complete abduction even on the first day. In some cases the ability to go through the full arc of abduction was thus obtained from the very first, much to the surprise and satisfaction of the patient. In most cases, however, in the second or third week there came a discouraging: time when the soreness again made motion difficult. At this time it required much time and encouragement to make the patient keep up the motion. In some cases I again used the splint for rest during the day, and took it off at night. On the whole this method of treatment, although invariably efficacious and more satisfactory than simple rupture of the adhesions, was a very arduous one for the surgeon, and caused a good deal of complaint from the patients. In many cases the patient's friends on seeing the poor arm constantly held up in the air, suffered more than the patients themselves. The splint, in order to be comfortable, required frequent adjustment's which the nurses and house-officers were not experienced enough to give. For this reason, and because I have heard of serious complications (paralysis) in the hands of other surgeons, I have recently endeavored to obtain abduction by tying the patient's forearm by means of a forearm splint to the head of the bed. This is almost as efficacious, although also requiring a good deal of attention and obliging the patient to keep his bed for several days. As will be shown in the discussion of Gr...