Treatment. Spontaneous cure often occurs when a cyst becomes inflamed and suppurates. The pus is evacuated either spontaneously or by incision, following which the walls of the sac adhere and its cavity is obliterated.
Treatment directed toward the obliteration of the sac is the only procedure which gives promise of permanent cure; mere puncture and evacuation will effect only temporary relief, the sac soon filling again.
Incision followed by dissection and removal of the sac, either intact or punctured, is radical and efficient.
Puncture and evacuation, followed by swabbing out with pure phenol or strong iodin, may set up an inflammatory reaction within the sac, which acts similarly to the suppurative process, causing adhesion of the walls, thus preventing a recurrence.
CHAPTER XVI
FRACTURES, DISLOCATIONS AND SPRAINS
FRACTURES
A fracture may be defined as a broken bone. Fractures are classified as follows: