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

356 INJURIES OF NERVES.
crushed by rollers and removed at the middle of the forearm
on the fourth day. He has no artificial limb. The
hand is on the stump and tightly closed, the thumb over
the fingers.
R. E., aged fifty-two. The right hand was caught between
two bot rollers and dreadfully burned, but not
severely crushed. It rested in rigid extension on a pillow
for two weeks, and was then taken oif five inches below
the elbow; does not use an artificial arm. The hand is
felt as lying in extension ;
the fingers rigid, just as they
were before the amputation. lie can slightly stir them,
the muscles in the forearm acting visibly, and the attempt
causing pain. Eftbrts to move the intrinsic muscles of
the hand also occasion pain, but he has very
little consciousness
of motion in the lost part, although the
muscles of the stump act freely.
J. K., aged forty-four, has had his leg amputated thrice:
once below the knee, once — above it, and finally at the
upper third of the thigh, all fourteen years ago. The
sensation of the presence of the toes, and rarely of the
heel, continued throughout, but has of late lessened, so
that unless the stump has been hurt he does not feel fully
conscious of the lost parts.
A. M., aged twenty-four, had his right hand injured by
the discharge of a cannon. Has no artificial limb. Amputation
was performed two inches below the elbow; the
stump is very tender, the hand seems half way up the
arm, the fingers are shut, the thumb lying over them.
Can stir the thumb, but not the fingers.
J. C, aged thirty-one, received a wound in the elbow,
for which amputation at the lower third of the arm was
performed four hours later. The stump is healthy;
it has
no artificial arm. The lost hand lies seemingly in the
stump. He is most conscious of the index and medius
fingers, which are always painful and intensely cramped;
there is no perception of the wrist or elbow.