Calculi, Part 7

Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine
by George M. Gould, M.D., Walter L. Pyle, M.D.

(Page 29 of 36)

Hiccough is a symptom due to intermittent, sudden contraction of the diaphragm. Obstinate cases are most peculiar, and sometimes exhaust the physician's skill. Symes divides these cases into four groups: -

(1) Inflammatory, seen particularly in inflammatory diseases of the viscera or abdominal membranes, and in severe cases of typhoid fever.

(2) Irritative, as in direct stimulus of the diaphragm in swallowing some very hot substance; local disease of the esophagus near the diaphragm, and in many conditions of gastric and intestinal disorder, more particularly those associated with flatus.

(3) Specific or idiopathic, in which there are no evident causes present; it is sometimes seen in cases of nephritis and diabetes.

(4) Neurotic, in which the primary cause is in the nervous system, - hysteria, epilepsy, shock, or cerebral tumors.

The obstinacy of continued hiccough has long been discussed. Osler calls to mind that in Plato's "Symposium" the physician, Eryximachus, recommended to Aristophanes, who had hiccough from eating too much, either to hold his breath or to gargle with a little water; but if it still continued, "tickle your nose with something and sneeze, and if you sneeze once or twice even the most violent hiccough is sure to go." The attack must have been a severe one, as it is stated subsequently that the hiccough did not disappear until Aristophanes had excited the sneezing.

Among the older medical writers Weber speaks of singultus lasting for five days; Tulpius, for twelve days; Eller and Schenck, for three months; Taranget, for eight months; and Bartholinus, for four years.

At the present day it is not uncommon to read in the newspapers accounts of prolonged hiccoughing. These cases are not mythical, and are paralleled by a number of instances in reliable medical literature. The cause is not always discernible, and cases sometimes resist all treatment.

Holston reports a case of chronic singultus of seven years' standing. It had followed an attack of whooping-cough, and was finally cured apparently by the administration of strychnin. Cowan speaks of a shoemaker of twenty-two who experienced an attack of constant singultus for a week, and then intermittent attacks for six years. Cowan also mentions instances of prolonged hiccough related by Heberden, Good, Hoffman, and Wartmouth. Barrett is accredited with reporting a case of persistent hiccough in a man of thirty-five. Rowland speaks of a man of thirty-five who hiccoughed for twelve years. The paroxysms were almost constant, and occurred once or twice a minute during the hours when the man was not sleeping. There was no noise with the cough. There is another case related in the same journal of a man who died on the fourth day of an attack of singultus, probably due to abscess of the diaphragm, which no remedy would relieve. Moore records a case of a child, injured when young, who hiccoughed until about twenty years of age (the age at the time of report). Foot mentions a lad of fifteen who, except when asleep, hiccoughed incessantly for twenty-two weeks, and who suffered two similar, but less severe, attacks in the summer of 1879, and again in 1880. The disease was supposed to be due to the habit of pressing the chest against the desk when at school. Dexter reports a case of long-continued singultus in an Irish girl of eighteen, ascribed to habitual masturbation. There was no intermission in the paroxysm, which increased in force until general convulsions ensued. The patient said that the paroxysm could be stopped by firm pressure on the upper part of the external genital organs. Dexter applied firm pressure on her clitoris, and the convulsions subsided, and the patient fell asleep. They could be excited by firm pressure on the lower vertebrae. Corson speaks of a man of fifty-seven who, after exposure to cold, suffered exhausting hiccough for nine days; and also records the case of an Irish servant who suffered hiccough for four months; the cause was ascribed to fright. Stevenson cites a fatal instance of hiccough in a stone-mason of forty-four who suffered continuously from May 14th to May 28th. The only remedy that seemed to have any effect in this case was castor-oil in strong purgative doses.

Willard speaks of a man of thirty-four who began to hiccough after an attack of pneumonia, and continued for eighty-six hours. The treatment consisted of the application of belladonna and cantharides plasters, bismuth, and lime-water, camphor, and salts of white hellebore inhaled through the nose in finest powder. Two other cases are mentioned by the same author. Gapper describes the case of a young man who was seized with loud and distressing hiccough that never ceased for a minute during eighty hours. Two ounces of laudanum were administered in the three days without any decided effect, producing only slight languor.

Ranney reports the case of an unmarried woman of forty-four who suffered from paroxysms of hiccough that persisted for four years. A peculiarity of this attack was that it invariably followed movements of the upper extremities. Tenderness and hyperesthesia over the spinous processes of the 4th, 5th, and 6th cervical vertebrae led to the application of the thermocautery, which, in conjunction with the administration of ergot and bromide, was attended with marked benefit, though not by complete cure. Barlow mentions a man with a rheumatic affection of the shoulder who hiccoughed when he moved his joints. Barlow also recites a case of hiccough which was caused by pressure on the cicatrix of a wound in the left hand.

Beilby reports a peculiar case in a girl of seventeen who suffered an anomalous affection of the respiratory muscle, producing a sound like a cough, but shriller, almost resembling a howl. It was repeated every five or six seconds during the whole of the waking moments, and subsided during sleep. Under rest and free purgation the patient recovered, but the paroxysms continued during prolonged intervals, and in the last six years they only lasted from twenty-four to forty-eight hours.

Parker reports four rebellious cases of singultus successfully treated by dry cups applied to the abdomen. In each case it was necessary to repeat the operation after two hours, but recovery was then rapid. Tatevosoff reports a brilliant cure in a patient with chronic chest trouble, by the use of common snuff, enough being given several times to induce lively sneezing. Griswold records a successful treatment of one case in a man of fifty, occurring after a debauch, by the administration of glonoin, 1/150 of a grain every three hours. Heidenhain records a very severe and prolonged case caused, as shown later at the operation and postmortem examination, by carcinoma of the pancreas. The spasms were greatly relieved by cocain administered by the mouth, as much as 15 grains being given in twelve hours. Laborde and Lepine report the case of a young girl who was relieved of an obstinate case of hiccough lasting four days by traction on her tongue. After the tongue had been held out of the mouth for a few minutes the hiccoughs ceased. Laborde referred to two cases of a similar character reported by Viand.