Avulsion of the Lower Extremity.--The symptoms following avulsion of the upper extremity are seen as well in similar accidents to the leg and thigh, although the latter are possibly the more fatal. Horlbeck quotes Benomont's description of a small boy who had his leg torn off at the knee by a carriage in motion; the child experienced no pain, and was more concerned about the punishment he expected to receive at home for disobedience than about the loss of his leg. Carter speaks of a boy of twelve who incautiously put the great toe of his left foot against a pinion wheel of a mill in motion. The toe was fastened and drawn into the mill, the leg following almost to the thigh. The whole left leg and thigh, together with the left side of the scrotum, were torn off; the boy died as a result of his injuries.
Ashurst reported to the Pathological Society of Philadelphia the case of a child of nine who had its right leg caught in the spokes of a carriage wheel. The child was picked up unconscious, with its thigh entirely severed, and the bone broken off about the middle third; about three inches higher the muscles were torn from the sheaths and appeared as if cut with a knife. The great sciatic nerve was found hanging 15 inches from the stump, having given way from its division in the popliteal space. The child died in twelve hours. One of the most interesting features of the case was the rapid cooling of the body after the accident and prolongation of the coolness with slight variations until death ensued. Ashurst remarks that while the cutaneous surface of the stump was acutely sensitive to the touch, there was no manifestation of pain evinced upon handling the exposed nerve.
With reference to injuries to the sciatic nerve, Kuster mentions the case of a strong man of thirty, who in walking slipped and fell on his back. Immediately after rising to his feet he felt severe pain in the right leg and numbness in the foot. He was unable to stand, and was carried to his house, where Kuster found him suffering great pain. The diagnosis had been fracture of the neck of the femur, but as there was no crepitation and passive movements caused but little pain, Kuster suspected rupture of the sciatic nerve. The subsequent history of the case confirmed this diagnosis. The patient was confined to bed six weeks, and it was five months afterward before he was able to go about, and then only with a crutch and a stick.
Park mentions an instance of rupture of the sciatic nerve caused by a patient giving a violent lurch during an operation at the hip-joint.
The instances occasionally observed of recovery of an injured leg after extensive severance and loss of substance are most marvelous. Morton mentions a boy of sixteen, who was struck by one of the blades of a reaping machine, and had his left leg cut through about 1 1/4 inches above the ankle-joint. The foot was hanging by the portion of skin corresponding to the posterior quarter of the circumference of the leg, together with the posterior tibial vessels and nerves. These were the only structures escaping division, although the ankle-joint itself was intact. There was comparatively little hemorrhage and no shock; a ligature was applied to the vessels, the edges of the wound were drawn together by wire sutures, and the cut surfaces of the tibia were placed in as good apposition as possible, although the lower fragment projected slightly in front of the upper. The wound was dressed and healing progressed favorably; in three months the wound had filled up to such an extent that the man was allowed to go on crutches. The patient was discharged in five months, able to walk very well, but owing to the loss of the function of the extensor tendons the toes dragged.
Washington reports in full the case of a boy of eleven, who, in handing a fowling piece across a ditch, was accidentally shot.
The contents of the gun were discharged through the leg above the ankle, carrying away five-sixths of the structure--at the time of the explosion the muzzle of the gun was only two feet away from his leg. The portions removed were more than one inch of the tibia and fibula (irregular fractures of the ends above and below), a corresponding portion of the posterior tibial muscle, and the long flexors of the great and small toes, as well as the tissue interposed between them and the Achilles tendon. The anterior tibial artery was fortunately uninjured. The remaining portions consisted of a strip of skin two inches in breadth in front of the wound, the muscles which it covered back of the wound, the Achilles tendon, and another piece of skin, barely enough to cover the tendon. The wound was treated by a bran-dressing, and the limb was saved with a shortening of but 11/2 inches.
There are several anomalous injuries which deserve mention.