Acute Aseptic Meningitis.

After the operation for mastoid. (a) When the temperature is raised the dura should not be opened, nor the brain explored by a needle. If this is done the patient will rarely, if ever, survive. With the subsidence of temperature there may be a complete disappearance of the signs of increased intracranial tension with recovery. (b) When the temperature is not raised and there is strong indication that an abscess is present, it is desirable to exercise patience and not to hurry to open the brain. Great harm is often done by inserting a needle into different parts of brain in order to try to discover where is the pus. Small abscesses are very difficult to locate when operating. In my experience patients with abscess of the brain only recover when an incision is made straight into the abscess with the first cut.