TREATMENT OF TETANUS BY THE "RATIONAL" METHOD OF ASHHURST AND JOHN

Abstract

In a recent article on the treatment of tetanus, Ashhurst and John 1 conclude that the rational use of tetanus antitoxin consists in (1) the intraneural injection of antitoxin; (2) the intraspinal injection; (3) the intravenous injection, and (4) the infiltration of the tissues about the site of the injury. The quantity usedshould be very much greater than the quantity that has usually been given heretofore by the subcutaneous route. In one of their cases in which the subcutaneous route was used, 224,000 units were administered in three days. But such an enormous quantity is not demanded when the intraneural and intraspinal routes are chosen. These authors feel that the outlook for patients with tetanus is much brighter now since the development of this method of administering antitoxin, and that the old view, that antitoxin is of no avail after the symptoms of tetanus have developed, must be abandoned. In