234 OPERATIVE TECHNIQUE. 



the animal is walked for a half to one hour daily ; in the country it may 

 be put to light work. Movement favours the escape of discharge, and 

 also tends to prevent the spermatic cord adhering to the skin wound, 

 or the wound itself closing, which is sometimes followed by severe 

 local inflammation, burrowing of pus, and abscess formation. 



During the first few days after operation it is therefore advisable to 

 cleanse the wound with boiled water or a disinfecting fluid at least 

 once daily, in order to prevent the edge of the scrotal w^ound adhering. 

 At a later stage this cleansing process is necessar}' for the removal of 

 pus, and must therefore be continued until suppuration ceases. Pro- 

 vided no marked swelling or other complication appears, the animal 

 may be returned to light work in from eight to ten days. 



The most serious consequences of castration are : 



I, Bleeding. Apart from trivial skin bleeding haemorrhage is 

 almost entirely confined to cases where the spermatic cord has been 

 twisted, scraped, or torn through, and is very rare after castration with 

 clams. Even after torsion, etc., fatal bleeding is rare. The trifling 

 haemorrhage resulting from division of cutaneous vessels occurs onl}- in 

 drops, is of no importance, and alwa3''s ceases of itself. Sometim.es, 

 however, blood escapes in a fine stream, and the operator's first task is 

 to discover whence it comes. It may discharge from the side of the 

 clams, and is then usually derived from the skin wound or processus 

 vaginalis ; such bleeding may be readily checked b}- the use of tampons. 

 Should it originate from the stump of the spermatic cord and dis- 

 charge below the clams greater care is required, and ligation of the 

 bleeding vessel becomes necessary. The slight bleeding which some- 

 times follows castration b}' torsion ma}' be stopped, by plugging the 

 scrotum with tampons ; more severe bleeding calls for ligation of the 

 spermatic cord. The operator slips a loop over the left hand, with 

 which he seeks for the spermatic cord : as soon as this is grasped, the 

 right hand passes the loop around the cord ; with the help of an 

 assistant the operator then draws the loop tight, without, however, 

 knotting it, as it may become needful to remove the ligature during the 

 next few days. The ends are left sufficiently long to protrude beyond 

 the operation wound. 



When the clams are removed bleeding sometimes results from 

 tearing of small veins. Some care is therefore required in removal ; 

 the best preventive of bleeding is to leave the clams in position for two 

 or three days. As a rule, haemorrhage of this kind ceases spon- 

 taneously, but should it persist, the affected side of the scrotum may 

 be plugged with cotton wool or tow. In the case of a stallion that had 

 been castrated three weeks before, Dotter checked bleeding by inject- 



