CHAPTER XXII 



ON THE POSSIBILITY 



OF THE SPONTANEOUS REDUCTION 



OF THE BOWEL IN TORSION 



In a previous chapter I have committed myself to the 

 statement that cases of partial displacement or torsion 

 occur in which the bowel spontaneously effects reduc- 

 tion. The question naturally follows : ' On what ground 

 is that statement based ?' As it is a conviction arrived 

 at only after experience gained in many years' treatment 

 of colic, and after careful reflection on cases which at 

 the time of their happening appeared puzzling and 

 perplexing in the extreme, it is difficult to explain 

 shortly. 



Put as briefly as I can, it is like this. By the constant 

 correction of one's diagnosis at post-mortems one comes 

 in time to diagnose twist with tolerable certainty during 

 the life of the patient. This power of diagnosis becomes, 

 in fact, so certain that one is able during the progress of 

 the case to inform the owner of what has happened with 

 some degree of confidence in being further able to point 

 it out at the post-mortem. One reaches this stage by 

 degrees, and then either becomes over-confident in his 

 powers of prediction, or sees a certain case of twist 

 recover. It is in this way : A case crops up in which 



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