Part 5
Gunshot Fracture of the Humerus.
The missile struck the bone and caused a long, splitting fracture, with some fragmentation of the proximal fragment.
The wound could have been caused by either a ricocheted rifle bullet or by a deformed shrapnel ball, either projectile being the low velocity of long range. These conditions are more common to shrapnel wounds, but the appearance of the larger metal fragment leads to the suspicion that it is a piece of the jacket of a rifle bullet.
The wound was not infected, and convalescence is well advanced, as is indicated by the callous formation.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 88.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Humerus, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The missile struck the shaft of the humerus from an anterior and external direction and caused a long diagonal splitting fracture with fragmentation, in which the bone absorbed all of the energy of the missile at the seat of fracture. The missile lies in the anterior surface of the humerus, in two fragments; the smaller, much less distinct, is seen about an inch above the larger.
The wound is not infected, and convalescence is well established, as is indicated by the callous formation, with overlapping of the fragments.
The treatment in such cases is conservative and the results are favorable.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 89.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Humerus.
The course of the missile was from behind forward and outward, striking the bone on the posterior surface, causing a fracture with fragmentation, and lacerating the wound of exit with fragments of bones and with its own deformation.
The wound of exit is indicated in the plate.
The wound is infected.
Fragments of the missile lie on the posterior surface of the bone, as indicated by their dense shadow and distinct outline. The treatment in such cases is conservative and the results are favorable.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 90.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Left Humerus.
The course of the missile was transverse from without inward, with a transverse fracture and fragmentation.
This wound might have been caused by either a shrapnel ball or a deformed rifle bullet, but the distribution of the metallic fragments rather indicate the course of a shrapnel ball.
The metallic fragments lie farther from the plate than the safety pin of the dressing, which, therefore, lies behind the bone and the fragments of the missile lie in front.
The treatment in such cases is conservative and the results are favorable. The subsequent course may indicate interference for mal-union.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 91.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Left Humerus.
The course of the missile has been from without inward. The fragments of metal marking the path of the missile lie farther from the plate on the outer than on the inner side. This would indicate the former to be in front of the bone and the latter to be behind. The wound could have been caused by either a deformed rifle bullet or by a shrapnel ball, but the distribution of metallic fragments along the track of the missile rather indicates the agent to have been a shrapnel ball.
The case is similar in course and results to that shown in the preceding plate 90.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 92.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Humerus, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The missiles, shrapnel balls deformed by ricochet, were multiple, with a course from without inward and diagonally downward. The streaks of metal particles along the seat of fracture indicates the path of a shrapnel ball or fragment from the point of impact to the lower fragment of the fracture, where several deformed shrapnel fragments are lodged. Multiple wounds by shrapnel are common.
The wounds of entrance were small. There was no wound of exit. The wound was not infected. This is another evidence that does not defend the inference that ricocheted missiles are prone to introduce elements of infection into a wound.
The plaster dressing does not seem to meet the indications for support of the fracture.
The treatment is conservative in such cases.
Results are favorable.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 93.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Humerus.
The course of the missile was transverse, from without inward and downward, striking the shaft of the bone squarely and producing a characteristic “butterfly” fracture, with a separation of the fragments.
The exposure was made with the ulnar side of the arm next to the plate, indicated by the clear outline of the internal condyle and the olecranon.
The nearly normal size of the shadow of the shrapnel ball shows it to be near the plate, and therefore to lie on the inside of the humerus. The irregular outline of the ball and the metallic fragments spattered about indicate that the ball was deformed by the detachment of fragments on direct impact with the bone. The wound is not infected.
The treatment is conservative in such cases and the results are good.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 94.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Humerus.
The course of the missile was from behind forward, causing a transverse fracture of the humerus with some fragmentation.
The wound is in a state of established convalescence, with considerable separation of the ends of the large fragments and without infection, shown by the formation of callus and by an attempt at union in faulty position.
The trail of the metallic fragments of the missile from behind forward and their location near the anterior surface of the arm indicate the course of the missile, either a rifle bullet or a shrapnel ball--most probably the latter, as the lead core of the rifle ball, protected by the jacket, does not break up into as many small particles as does the shrapnel ball. The missile was deformed by ricochet before striking the bone.
The early treatment in such cases is conservative, although the subsequent course may indicate interference for malposition. The results are favorable.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 95.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Wound of the Humerus, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The course of the missile was from before backward. The missile consisted of two large fragments of a richocheted shrapnel ball, almost spent in energy before striking the arm, as its penetration was just enough to pass through the soft parts and strike the humerus, causing a fissure without separation of fragments. The wound was clean.
The treatment in such cases is naturally conservative.
[The epiphysis of the olecranon being so distinct and showing no fusion, indicates the youth of this soldier, whose age could not have been more than 16 years.]
RIFLE--PLATE 96.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
(a) Gunshot Fracture of the Left Humerus--(b) Gunshot Fracture of the Left Elbow.
The missile was a rifle bullet with the reduced velocity of long range, passing transversely along the articulations of the elbow, fragmenting the radius and ulna and fissuring the humerus through both condyles.
The emergency treatment is antiseptic dressing and immobilization, with prompt transportation to the base.
Subsequent treatment is conservative, with proper immobilization.
Results as to limb are favorable, with probable loss of function of the elbow.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 97.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Wound of the Right Elbow.
The course of the missile was superficial, downward and outward from above the internal condyle of the right humerus to the wound of exit over the internal border of the ulna. Metal fragments of the missile have lodged against the tip of the olecranum, with no fracture and with no damage to the joint. The low velocity of the missile, producing so slight a bone injury and the track of lead particles along the line of contact with the bones determines it to have been a shrapnel ball.
The wound was not infected.
The treatment in such cases is naturally conservative and the results are very favorable.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 98.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Elbow, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The course of the ball was from before backward, striking the lower end of the humerus squarely above and internal to the external condyle and splitting off the condyles with a line of fracture extending through the capitellum, without much separation of the fragment.
As the impact was direct, the energy producing such effect was that of low velocity.
The great radiographic penetration shown in this plate gives the shadows of the ball great distinctness and definite outline, especially in the line of fracture, although its opposite border is not in such sharp contrast. This appearance, together with the very slight enlargement, leads to the suspicion that the ball lies posteriorly, but a larger metal fragment, below the ball, is less clear and suggests a position anterior to the bone. With the posterior surface of the arm next to the plate and with but little difference in the distance from the plate to either the anterior or posterior surface of the bone, it is not easy to determine the location of the ball in the anteroposterior direction, but it would seem to be on the anterior surface of the bone.
The wound is not infected. The treatment is conservative and results favorable.
The subsequent course would probably indicate the removal of a foreign body from a site so near the joint.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 99.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Elbow, with Lodgment of the Missile.
Same wound as in plate 98.
The sharp holder of the greater sigmoid cavity and the head of the radius fully obscured by the coracoid process indicate, that in this exposure, the ulnar side of the arm was next to the plate.
With this condition and the enlarged shadow of the ball, the latter must lie a little distance away from the plate, and, actually, on the radial side of the humerus.
The position of the ball in the anteroposterior line is manifest, and its position confirms the deductions made therefrom in the preceding plate (98).
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 100.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Elbow.
The primary condition of this wound is not manifest from the appearance of the plate, which reveals only a destruction of the joint by fracture and an advanced stage of infection, involving the fragments and lower end of the shaft of the humerus, as indicated by the rarefaction of these parts.
Several fragments of the missile are in evidence; it is probable that others have escaped with drainage.
Drainage tubes are seen in the lower arm and upper forearm. The primary conservative treatment has been continued through two or three months.
The case is from Gulhané Military Hospital, where the scientific character of surgical service already referred to must lead to the inference that all the surgical indications have been met in the management of the case.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 101.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Left Radius and Ulna, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The course of the missile was from within outward, striking the ulna a glancing blow just above the styloid process, fracturing the anterior surface, and then striking the internal border of the radius and causing a slight notching fracture with a longitudinal fissure.
The forearm lies in supination, with its posterior surface next to the plate. As the outline of the missile, as well as of the bone, is blurred, there is not enough differentiation in the shadows to indicate the anterior or posterior location of the missile with reference to the radius.
The shrapnel ball struck the bone with low velocity, as all of its remaining energy, absorbed by the two small bones, caused little damage and practically no displacement of fragments. The wound was not infected.
The treatment in such cases is, of course, conservative.
Results are uniformly good.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 102.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Radius.
A fragmented shrapnel ball, coursing from without inward, struck the upper third of the shaft of the radius and caused a green-stick fracture. A fragment of the ball, larger than those seen in the plate, inflicted the greater damage and escaped through the wound of exit, to be seen below the large fragment on the left of the plate.
The olecranon process of the right ulna rests on the photographic plate, with the forearm in semipronation, so that the shadow of the radius falls nearly in line with that of the ulna. With the forearm restored to the anatomical position, the spattered metallic fragments, now seen lying over and to the left of the radius, would then be shown lying on the outer border of and posterior to the radius, except for the upper right metallic fragment, now lying over the ulna, which would be seen lying over the anterior surface of the radius. The six pellets seen in the lower forearm have not contributed to the injury of the bone. Their density and indefinite outline indicate a position in the forearm opposite to the side next to the plate. With the forearm in supination they would appear in their real position, in front of the ulna and on the outside of the radius.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 103.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Radius.
The missile in its course from behind forward and from above downward left a trail of its metal particles along the line of its first contact until the bone yielded to the pressure in a transverse fracture.
The arm lies in slight pronation with the longitudinal ridges of the dorsal surface of the ulna, shown distinctly next to the photographic plate. The upper end of the lower radial fragment, shown as overlying the ulna, is inclined forward in the anatomical position. The metal particles are on the outer and posterior border of the radius.
The treatment in such cases is conservative.
Results as to function are uncertain.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 104.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Ulna.
The course of the missile was tangential along side of the upper end of the ulna and internal condyle of the humerus, with a splitting effect on the ulna, which formed three fragments by breaking off the olecranon, and one lateral fragment from the shaft of the bone without displacement. The line of metallic particles shows the path of the ball in its slight contact with the bones, beginning on the side of the ulna and extending along the side of the internal condyle from where the ball escaped through the skin. The wound, not infected, was treated as simple fracture. A few fine lines on the plate above the fracture are due to scratches on the negative.
Results in such cases should be good.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 105.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Right Metacarpus.
The course of the missile was from the outer border of the hypothnear eminence diagonally downward through the palm, lodging against the second metacarpal bone with fracture of last four metacarpals.
The metal particles are not seen on the fourth and fifth metacarpals because the violence at these points was transmitted through soft parts, but the projectile spent its remaining energy directly against the second and third metacarpals.
The palm of the hand was next to the photographic plate, as indicated by the immediate contact of the thumb. The shadow of the bones is not dense, but in deep contrast with the shadows of the ball and metal fragments, which are so clearly outlined with the ball of normal size that the ball is thus shown to lie on the palmar side of the hand.
The treatment is conservative, with judicious interference when opportunity shall offer for removal of the missile.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 106.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Left Metacarpus, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The palm of the hand lies next to the plate. The ball is very slightly enlarged and the small metal fragments are indistinct, indicating that they and the ball lie on the back of the hand.
The ball struck the third knuckle and lodged beneath the skin between the fourth and fifth metacarpals, fracturing both bones without displacement of fragments. In the recent wound the condition would be apparent, but after days of inflammatory reaction and infection, the swelling is too great to make any determination by palpation.
The treatment is removal of the missile. Good results regularly follow.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 107.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Fracture of the Left Metacarpus, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The hand lies with its ulnar side next to the plate, as is indicated by the sharp outline of the swollen hypothenar eminence, nearer the plate than the thumb, with the enlarged, poorly defined, and rarefied shadow of its metacarpal and phalanges.
As the normal size of the balls and the clear outline of the metal fragments must place them almost in contact with the plate, the ball is located near the fifth metacarpal. As this is the same case as is shown in plate 106, the conclusions drawn from each plate are confirmed by the other.
The wound is infected, as indicated by the swelling of the palm.
The treatment is removal of the missile, with management of the infection.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 108.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Gunshot Wound of the Left Hand, with Lodgment of the Missile.
The shadow of the hand is shown with the palm next to the plate, as indicated by the small, well-defined outline of the first metacarpal lying within the outline of the larger and less-defined shadow of the second metacarpal. The third finger is flexed at the first phalangeal joint, and the end of the second phalanx is outlined in deeper shadow, with its long axis vertical to the plate.
The position raises the first finger from the plate and very slightly enlarges the size of the shadow of the bullet, although it retains its sharp outline. The shadow of the ball being very nearly the normal size, the ball lies on the palmar side of the third metacarpo-phalangeal joint. It entered the hand on the outer border of the base of the first finger, and left a fragment of metal on its slight contact with the bone. The ball was deformed by ricochet before striking the hand, with almost completely spent velocity. The wound is infected.
The treatment is the management of infection.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 109.
UPPER EXTREMITY.
Multiple Gunshot Wounds of the Right Hand and Forearm, with Fracture of the Metacarpus and Phalanges and Lodgment of the Missile.
The hand lay with the palmar surface next to the plate. The distinct outline of the small metal fragments and the natural size of the shadow of the undeformed shrapnel ball show that they lay on the anterior side of the metacarpus. The arrangements of the metal particles and bone fragments and the indication of the point of entrance of one wound on the outer border of the metacarpal of the thumb indicate the course of the balls to have been from the radial to the ulna side of the palm. The undeformed ball, then, lies, most probably, in front of the second metacarpal. The deformed ball shows, in its enlarged shadow and not so distinct in outline as the normal ball, that it is on the dorsal surface of the third and fourth metacarpals.
The undeformed ball caused the fracture of the phalanx and metacarpal of the thumb; the deformed ball fractured the neck of the third metacarpal; a ball which escaped from the wound and touched the base of the first phalanx of the middle finger and fractured the first phalanx of the little finger; and another ball, which glanced along the anterior surface of the lower end of the shaft of the radius and left a deposit of metal to mark its course, also escaped from the ulnar border of the forearm at a point indicated in the plate.
Four balls were concerned with this wound; two of them have lodged with some damage and two others have escaped, after inflicting a slight injury. Multiple shrapnel wounds are common. It may be said that the greater the number of balls lodged in a given area the less the distance of the plane from the apex of the cone of dispersion of a shrapnel discharge.
Several shrapnel balls, lodged in a small area without causing much damage or exhibiting much power of penetration, indicate low velocity at close range of shrapnel balls on discharge from the shrapnel envelope.
In a personal case, eight shrapnel balls were removed from a forearm.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 110.
CHEST.
Gunshot Wound of the Chest, with Lodgment of the Missile in the Lung.
The posterior chest wall is next to the plate, as the posterior rib shadows are much more distinct and much smaller than the shadows of the anterior ribs.
The shadow of the ball is blurred, which shows that it moved with respiration and is, therefore, probably in the lung. The shadow is only slightly enlarged and is fairly dense, which indicates it to be not far from the ribs and, therefore, in the posterior portion of the lung.
The treatment of such cases is conservative; infection is not common; hæmothorax pleurisy, empyema, pneumonia, and pulmonary abscess are most frequent complications, named in the order of frequency. Pulmonary abscess is very rare. Pneumonia was seen in a personal case.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 111.
CHEST.
Gunshot Wound of Chest, with Lodgment of the Missile Superficially.
While the missile is not a shrapnel ball, it presents similar conditions and does not need to be separately classified.
The vertebral border of the scapula is distinctly shown in light shadow, indicating its position near the plate.
The outline of the missile is so distinct and the shadow so dense that it must lie near the plate, and is located superficially in the infraspinatus fossa.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 112.
CHEST.
Gunshot Wound of the Chest, with Fractured Rib and Lodgment of the Missile in the Axilla.
The back of the patient lay on the plate, as is indicated by the normal size of the ribs behind and the exaggerated outline in front.
The ball struck the sixth rib behind and caused a fracture at the angle. It then continued its course to the axilla. The normal size of the shadow of the ball indicates that it lies superficially behind the head of the humerus.
The wound of the rib was infected superficially, and the secretion of the wound carried away the most of the metal particles which the ball in striking deposited on impact.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 113.
CHEST.
Gunshot Wound of the Chest, with Lodgment of the Missile in the Axilla.
There is no wound of the bone.
The ball lies in the axilla, behind, not close to, the plate, because the density of the shadow is not very great and the size is slightly enlarged. The distance from the plate is probably that of the mid-axillary line.
The wound is not infected. Pain and impaired movement of the arm suggested localization of the missile and indicate removal in the subsequent course of treatment.
SHRAPNEL--PLATE 114.
CHEST.
Gunshot Wound of the Chest, with the Lodgment of the Missile in the Axilla.
The posterior chest wall lay next to the plate.
The almost normal size of the shadow of the ball indicates that it lies near the plate, and the blurred outline shows that it has moved with the chest in respiration. The ball lies, therefore, in the posterior axilla near the middle of the outer border of the scapula, imbedded in the thoracic muscles.