The treatment of paralysis and apoplexy by the application of
ice to the spine has yielded some very remarkable results, which are detailed in The Medical Times and Gazette for the 6th inst. In one case the patient, a gentleman, had been seized with paralysis on the 2nd December, became rapidly worse, and when Dr. Chap- man first saw him, on the 4th December, he was in a profound stupor, could not be roused, and the right arm gave no signs of . sensibility, the head was hot, the eyes closed, and the face drawn. The hot-water bag was first applied to the upper spine to reduce the temperature of the head, and afterwards the ice to the "dorsal and lumbar region." On the 5th December signs of consciousness returned, and the face became more symmetrical ; on the 6th he could converse by monosyllables, on the 15th December he eould read The Times and dress and undress himself, and on the 30th January the patient thought himself quite well. The other ease of apoplexy (in its worst form) was still more remarkable. The patient, a full-bodied woman, had a stroke on the 13th March, and was so near to death that the local surgeon said she was dying, and on the 14th March sent a woman to " lay her out." She had remained in this state absolutely unconscious for forty- eight hours before Dr. Chapman saw her, and the ice treatment was begun. Her recovery has been slow, but the account of the case in The Medical Times and Gazette reports steady improve- ment, recovered consciousness and appetite, and all the other signs of convalescence on the 1st inst. The method seems to be now admitted by very high authorities as one of great power in many nervous disorders.
Previous page
