170 ■ OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



the walls of vessels becoming adherent before yielding and the lumen 

 being blocked b}' a thrombus. Cicatrisation is rapid, and the wound 

 is relatively small. 



The applications of the elastic ligature are numerous, the method 

 of application simple. \'ulcanised rubber tubing or cord, of a thick- 

 ness proportionate to the mass to be divided, is used. An assistant 

 holds one end of the cord while the operator grasps and stretches 

 the other, passing it three or four times around the pedicle of the 

 growth. The two ends are held in a crossed position by an assistant, 

 when they can be tied together with an ordinary thread. 



In removing tumours with well-defined pedicles the elastic band 

 is easily applied, but when the tumour is more or less sessile it is 

 necessary to transfix it with one or two long needles crossed at right 

 angles to prevent the ligature slipping off. 



Since Rossignol and Cagny's experiments the castration of lambs 

 b}' the elastic ligature has become very common in France. Rossignol 

 had only three cases of tetanus after castrating two thousand two to 

 three months old lambs during very hot weather. It is equally useful 

 for bovines. In Egypt, Slot operated on nearly two thousand bulls or 

 buffaloes during 1S85 without accident or complication of any kind. 

 The method was as follows : — The scrotal region and ligature were 

 disinfected ; during the next few days the parts were moistened with 

 an antiseptic ; on the sixth to the eighth day the gangrenous parts 

 were cut away, and the stump smeared with a little recently boiled tar. 

 Generally the animals returned to work on the fifteenth to the twentieth 

 da}'. 



The elastic ligature has been tried in the castration of solipeds, but 

 grave complications like tetanus, septiccemia, and peritonitis have 

 caused the method to be abandoned. Its applications, however, are 

 many. \\'hen the prolapsed uterus cannot be reduced, or is the seat 

 of grave change, a strong elastic ligature may be applied at the base, 

 the parts amputated an inch or two beyond, and the stump disinfected 

 and returned. Loss of blood ma}- be prevented b\' apphing an 

 Esmarch bandage before operation. Cagny has recommended the 

 elastic ligature for docking. The most painful part of this operation is 

 not the division of the tissues, but their cauterisation, and in certain 

 high-bred animials the application of the iron causes violent struggling. 

 Cauterisation can be dispensed with b}- applying before section .an 

 elastic bandage to the tail just above the point of di\ision. It has 

 been suggested that the bandage should be left in position for a week, 

 but this would be dangerous, and it is sufficient to leave it t\vent\-four 

 to forty-eight hours. 



