INTRAMUSCULAR INJECTION OF TURPENTINE IN THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES OF THE SKIN

Abstract

Subsequent to the publication of Fochier's¹ paper concerning the beneficial effect of the fixation abscess in combating septic disease, many writers, chiefly German, reported good results in a multitude of general infectious conditions. It remained for Klingmüller² to introduce the injection of turpentine as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of diseases of the skin. A review of the literature on the subject reveals many enthusiastic reports. We have employed turpentine in the treatment of a large variety of skin conditions during the last year in order to test its therapeutic value. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Fochier advanced the "fixation abscess" theory in 1891. He believed that virulent septic infections form no pus foci. He sought to produce an artificial abscess by injecting subcutaneously turpentine oil that would "fix," exhaust and beneficially influence the general infection. He employed the fixation abscess in septic and pyemic processes, especially in