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WHITLOW
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WHITLOW , a name applied loosely to any inflammation involving the pulp of the See also:finger, attended by swelling and throbbing See also:pain. In the simplest See also:form, which is See also:apt to occur in sickly See also:children, the inflammation results in a whitish vesicle of the skin, containing watery or bloody fluid. In all such cases, where the deeper structures are not implicated, no See also:radical See also:local treatment is needed, although the illness is an indication for constitutional treatment. The inflammation is not usually spoken of as whitlow unless it involves the deeper structures of the last See also:joint of the finger, in which See also:case it is associated with intense pain. As the result of a scratch or prick of the finger septic germs enter the skin and give rise to an acute inflammation, with throbbing and bursting pain. If the germs do not spread from that spot, they set up an acute localized attack of See also:erysipelas which may end in a superficial See also:abscess. More often, however, they make their way to the periosteum of the last See also:bone of the finger, and involve it in a devastating inflammation which may end in See also:death (See also:necrosis) of that bone. Sometimes the germs find their way into the tendon-sheath, and, spreading into the See also:palm of the See also:hand, cause a deep abscess with, perhaps, sloughing of the tendon, and leaving a permanently stiffened finger. In some cases amputation of the finger is eventually called for. Whitlow is especially apt to occur in See also:people who are out of See also:health, as in them the micro-organisms of the disease meet with less resistance. So soon, therefore, as the acute See also:stage of the disease is over, conic treatment, with See also:quinine and See also:iron, is needed. The local treatment of whitlow demands a See also:free incision into the See also:area in which the germs are undergoing cultivation, and the sooner that this is done the better. It is wrong to wait for an abscess to be formed. A prompt incision may actually prevent the formation of abscess, and the easing of the tension of the inflamed See also:tissue by the incision gives immediate See also:relief. Perhaps, even in the See also:early stage of the disease, a See also:bead or two of pus may find exit, but whether there is abscess or not, the depths of the See also:wound should be swabbed out with some strong carbolic or mercuric lotion in See also:order to destroy the germs. The hand should then be placed upon a splint with antiseptic fomentations around the finger. It should, moreover, be kept well raised, or worn in a See also:sling, (E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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