A Case of Severe Sepsis Accompanying Diabetes

Last November I was called in to see an adult male Hindu patient who had been bedridden from diabetes and under the treatment of local Ayurvedic practitioners tor three months. 1 found" him with a subcutaneous abscess of the left leg extending from the hip joint to the knee, discharging pus through an open sinus. The amount of pus discharged daily through this opening was some 16 to 20 ozs. In the groin above the hip joint was a second sinus, some four inches in depth. On the posterior aspect of the thigh was still a third sinus opening into an ulcer some two inches in diameter and with the bared femur lying exposed at the bottom of the sinus. The patient's general condition was extremely unsatisfactory and he could only turn from side to side with assistance. His temperature when first seen was 101 ?F., pulse rate 100 per minute, and respiration 32. Treatment.?I gave an intravenous injection ?f 5 minims of tincture of io'dine diluted with distilled water, and a mixture containing codeine, iron and nux vomica by the mouth. The intravenous injections of iodine were continued and the dose increased to 8 minims in the second Week, and finally to 20 minims. The patient was kept on a strictly wheat diet, and Sanatogen and other tonics given. In all, ten intravenous injections of iodine were given. By degrees the sinuses completely cleared up ?f themselves, without any local application ex-