ON
IMPERFORATE HYMEN.
BY JAMES MILMAN COLEY, ESQ.
BRIDGNORTH:
Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, in London; Member of the Medical and Philosophical Society at St. Bartholomew's, &c.
The obstruction in the vagina, occasioned by a
preternatural formation of the hymen, may be either
complete or incomplete. In the former case the
imperfection may remain undiscovered, until the
menstrual secretion has accumulated within the cavities
of the uterus and vagina, and has distended
the former, so as to excite suspicion of the existence
of pregnancy. As the aggregation of the menses,
and consequent enlargement of the uterus advance,
some difficulty in discharging the urine takes place,
constituting dysury; but I am not aware that any
instance has been hitherto recorded, in which retention
of urine, from the above cause, requiring the
continued use of the catheter, has occurred. Such
a disease is no where described,[1] either in the nosological
systems of Linnaeus, Vogel, Sagar, Cullen,
- ↑ A case, with suppression of urine, related by Benevoli, is referred to in Burn's Principles of Midwifery, Ed. 6, p. 64; and others are noticed by Dr. Davis.—C.
