Injuries of nerves and their consequences - Reflex Sympathetic ...

ILLUSTRATIVE CASES. 209
fort., and then with cantharides. Six blisters effected a
cure of the pain, and when he left us, after three months,
his state was altoo-ether satisfactory save as to the rio-id
joints, which, although improved by passive movement
and the cold douche, were by no means well. The
paralysis remained unaltered.
Case 36.— Bruise of left ankle ; loss of motion in foot ; no
loss of sensation; local subcutaneous effusions of blood; electrical
treatment; cure. A. J. M,, aged thirt}^, enlisted August,
1862, Company K, 13th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Except
that he was liable to muscular rheumatism, he was healthy
until hurt. On February 16, 1863, his horse fell with
him, and pinned his left foot between the saddle and
the ground. The foot was much bruised, but could be
moved with pain until the fifth week, when he lost power.
At this time, also, he had slight darting pains about the
knee and thigh, and the foot became cold, although to him
it felt hot. April 18, 1864, when I first saw him, the sciatic
nerve was tender, and its diverging branches still more
so. The foot was hot and flushed, and could not be voluntarily
moved, either in flexion or extension, while the
calf muscles and the anterior leg groups were only slightly
excitable by the most powerful induced currents. There
was very little pain. The foot and ankle were generally
red, with here and there spots of more marked congestion.
The instep and sides of the foot and ankle were
dotted with large and small spots, some like bruise-marks,
and others more defined, and resembling purpura.
Under the use of induced currents the man was rapidly
cured. Alternate cold and hot douches constituted the
only additional treatment. At the close of six weeks he
had had twenty applications of the battery, and had nearly
entirely recovered all the lost movements. The foot was
cooler and the eruption gone.
Case 37.— Womul of median and ulnar nerves ; atrophy and