Kitap 7
26
26 Sometimes we are compelled to draw off the urine by hand when it is not passed naturally; either because in an old man the passage has collapsed, or because a stone, or a blood-clot of some sort has formed an obstruction within it; but even a slight inflammation often prevents natural evacuation; and this treatment is needed not only for men but sometimes also for women. For this purpose bronze tubes are made, and the surgeon must have three ready for males and two for females, in order that they may be suitable for every body, large and small: those for males should be the longest, fifteen finger-breadths in length, the medium twelve, the shortest nine; females, the longer nine, the shorter six. They ought to be a little curved, but more so for men, and they should be very smooth and neither too large nor too small. Then the man must be placed on his back, in the way described for anal treatment, on a low seat or couch; while the practitioner stands on his right side, and taking the penis of the male patient in his left hand, with his right hand passes the pipe into the urethra; and when it has reached the neck of the bladder, the pipe together with the penis is inclined and pushed on right into the bladder; and when the urine has been evacuated, it is taken out again. The woman's urethra is both shorter and straighter, like a nipple placed between the inner labia over the vagina, and this requires assistance no less often though it is attended by somewhat less difficulty. Sometimes too a stone slips into the urethra itself, and lodges not far from its orifice, because this becomes narrower further down. The stone should if possible be extracted either by an earscoop or by the instrument with which a stone is drawn out in the course of lithotomy. If this cannot be done, the foreskin is drawn as far forwards as possible over the glans and tied there by a thread. Then to one side of the penis a longitudinal incision is to be made and the stone taken out, after which the prepuce is released. This is done in this way so that an intact portion of skin covers the incision into the penis, and urine flows out naturally.
