The original caption may contain language which is historic and which may no longer be considered appropriate. It has been retained in the record in the interest of historical accuracy.
The caption on the reverse of the photograph reads: “Method of bladder irrigation. Picture shows s (sic) sister taking the clip off the tube conveying the irrigating fluid from the upper container to the bladder, via the three-way connection, of Dr. Duke’s bladder irrigation apparatus. The container near the floor has received the urine, has been emptied, and is ready to receive the irrigation fluid after it has washed out the bladder. (Picture taken at St. Mark’s Hospital, City Road.”
Founded as the 'Infirmary for the Relief of the Poor Afflicted with Fistula and Other Diseases of the Rectum' in 1835, the hospital was initially housed in a small room of 7 beds in Aldergate Street. The hospital expanded and moved over the 19th century, and a large extension was built in the late 1920s. Cuthbert Dukes, a pioneer of staging the spread of colorectal cancer, worked at St Mark’s Hospital in the 1920s as its first pathologist. Dukes provided a classification of both prostate and bladder cancer, and designed an apparatus for drainage of the bladder which was used in the inter-war period. The apparatus was manually controlled and free draining, and greatly reduced the incidence and severity of urinary infections previously caused by intermittent catheter drainage. Later, methods of bladder drainage similar to the ‘St. Mark’s apparatus’ were widely used because of their simplicity and effectiveness. See also MED01/01/0644 and MED01/01/0646. High-resolution copies of this image are available for free for non-commercial use. Please Enquire to place an order.
This is part of the Series: MED01/01 Series of prints; within the Collection: MED01 Topical Press Agency Medical Collection
Source: Historic England Archive
Photographer: Topical Press Agency Limited
Photographer: Harrison, Norman Kingsley
Hospital For Fistula And Rectal Diseases, People At Work, Women's History, Health And Welfare
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