ABDOMINAL WOUNDS OF ANIMALS 159 



Treatment is imperative in cases of strangulated hernia 

 and consists in confinement and anesthetization of the 

 subject. The skin over the swelling is shaved and 

 cleansed with soap and water, dried, and painted with 

 tincture of iodin. A free incision is made, exposing the 

 strangulated loop of intestine and the ragged edges of 

 the subcutaneous wound. Reposition is effected by ma- 

 nipulation, after having drained a quantity of fluid with 

 a small trocar. If little fluid is contained, it may be 

 necessary to enlarge the opening slightly. After reduc- 

 ing the hernia, approximation of the wound margins is 

 effected by means of sutures. 



In a case of strangulated hernia occurring in a twelve- 

 hundred pound mule, the animal had kicked over a par- 

 tition and become impaled upon an upright timber. In 

 his struggles a sufficient amount of tissue had been torn 

 and badly mutilated to allow a hernia of the floating 

 colon. Separation of muscular layers had taken place to 

 an extent sufficient to permit of the incarceration of 

 about twenty inches of intestine. 



The writer was called about four hours after the acci- 

 dent occurred. At that time there existed in the left 

 flank just anterior to and below the anterior iliac spine 

 an enlargement ten or twelve inches in diameter, which 

 was edematous in its periphery. Manipulation of the 

 mass caused pain to the subject. By rectal examination 

 it w^as possible to outline the irregular borders of this 

 abdominal rent. The animal was very restless, and it 

 was decided that immediate surgical intervention w^as 

 the only recourse. 



With assistance, the subject w^as cast, and anesthetized, 

 the field prepared, and bj^ means of a free incision the 

 strangulated loop of bowel was exposed and replaced. 

 The wound was prepared and the various tissue layers 

 were sutured separately. The mule was allowed the free- 



