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23
Surgeon. 5 Tottenham children were attending at the end of the
year.
Special School for Physically Defective Children.
Physically defective children attend a special school accommodated
temporarily at West Green School 45 children were attending
at the end of the year.
THE AURAL CLINIC, 1942.
Mr. F. P. M. Clarke, Aural Surgeon, reports that the number of
children referred to the Aural Clinic during the year was considerably
in increase of the previous year. The number of pre-sohool
children attending has steadily increased, which is a move in the
right direction, for the earlier that any defects are detected and
promptly treated, the less will be the number of these ailments when
the child reaches school age. This can be seen in the cases of Acute
Otorrhoea.. There were 16 pre-school children treated for Acute
Purulent otitis. 12 of these were cured and three remained under
treatment at the end of the year; while there was only one case of
Chronic Otorrhoea amongst the pre-school age.
We think it advisable to add a short note here on the Suction
method of Treatment used in acute purulent otitis. A day or two
after the acute attack and pain have passed off, and when the
discharge becomes thick, there is a tendency for the opening or
perforation in the drum membrane to became closed up, with a
consequent stasis of pus in the middle ear. A mild suction with
a suitable instrument, applied daily, will help to keep the perforation
open and empty the middle ear of discharge, allow free
drainage, thus allay the irritation set up by the discharge, of the
delicate tissues of the middle ear, will facilitate healing, and allow
the entry into the middle ear of the antiseptic medicament used.
When the external and middle ear are emptied by suction, a vacuum
is produced which brings forward any pus that is present in the
middle ear. In this way the pus has little chance of becoming
stagnated in the mid ear and its various tracts, which sometimes
lead even to the petrous pyramid. If this treatment is carefully
carried out, the benefits to the patient will soon become very
obvious. After the suction, a 1 or 2 per cent. solution of carbolized
glycerin is dropped into the ear and repeated every two or
three hours. If pain is troublesome, a warm suction douche