Remarks on Pelvic Peritonitis and Pelvic Cellulitis, with Illustrative Cases
Article IV.- Remarks on Pelvic Peritonitis and Pelvic Cellulitis, with Illustrative Cases. By Lauchlan Aitken, M.D. Rather moie than a year ago there appeared from the pen of a well- known of this a gynecologist city very able monograph on the two forms of pelvic inflammation whose names head this article; and it cannot have escaped the recollection of the reader that Dr M. Dun- can, adopting the nomenclature first proposed by Yirchow, has used on his different terms title-page1 than those older appellations I still to retain. Under these propose ^ circumstances I feel at to compelled least to attempt justify my preference for the original names: and I trust to be able to show that are they preferable to, and less con- others that fusing than, any have as yet been proposed, even though we cannot consider them absolutely perfect. 1 Treatise on A Practical Perimetritis and Parametritis (Edin. 1869). 1870.] DR LAUCI1LAN AITKEN ON PELVIC FERITONITIS, ETC. 889 Passing over, then, such terms as 'periuterine cellulitis or phleg- mons periuterins as bad compounds ; others, as inflammation of the broad ligaments, as too limited in meaning ; and others, again, as engorgement periutdrin, as only indicating one of the stages of the affection,?I shall endeavour as succinctly as possible to state my reasons for preferring the older names to those proposed by Virchow. ls?. The two Greek prepositions, peri and para, are employed somewhat arbitrarily to indicate inflammatory processes which are essentially distinct. I say arbitrarily, because I am not aware that para has been generally employed in the form of a compound to ex- press inflammation of the cellular tissue elsewhere.1 By those who remember that the cellular tissue not only separates the serous membrane from the uterus at that part where the cervix and body of the organ meet, but is even abundant there,2 perimetritis might readily be taken to indicate one of the varieties, though indeed not a in for which very common one, of pelvic cellulitis?a variety, fact, the term perimetric cellulitis has been proposed.
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