Civil War Washington

CASE 767.—Private C. Burbridge, Co. K, 88th Pennsylvania, aged 40 years, was wounded at Spottsylvania​, May 10, 1864, and entered Mount Pleasant Hospital, Washington, three days afterwards. Assistant Surgeon C. A. McCall, U. S. A., reported: "The injury was caused by a minié ball entering at the internal malleolus of the right leg, comminuting the fibular extremity and the astragalus​ and laying bare the tendon. The parts became swollen, tense, and discolored, and synovitis was fully developed. Amputation at the junction of the middle and lower thirds of the leg was performed by the antero-posterior flap method on May 24th, by Acting Assistant Surgeon P. C. Potter. The anæsthetic was made up of two parts chloroform and one part ether. At the time of the operation the patient was in a weak and debilitated condition and failing hourly, suffering from nervous trembling, restlessness, exhausting insomnia, and severe pain, which was lancinating and at times grinding and unsupportable. There was also copious discharge of ichor from the wound, and a sinus and abscess had extended up the limb and was opened a day or two before the operation. Interrupted sutures were applied to the stump, which broke out from ulceration of the flaps on the third day. Straps were then used and a tendency to slough counteracted by antiseptic poultices. Tonics and malt drinks were administered. By June 30th, the sloughing had stopped and abundant granulations were springing up. The greatest point of difficulty in this case was produced by the flaps falling asunder at each dressing, thus breaking up the nearly healed union and allowing the tibia to protrude." In the following month the patient was transferred to York, and subsequently he passed through various hospitals at Philadelphia, being ultimately discharged from service at Chester, June 27,1865, and pensioned. He had been previously supplied with an artificial leg. In his application for commutation, dated 1870, the pensioner described the stump as being "tender;" but in his subsequent statements he represented it in "good condition." The pensioner was paid June 4, 1880.