4 ASSIstanc IE AT OPERATIONS. 



depth of eighteen inches or two feet. Litter should certainly not lie 

 used. For dogs an operating table will be found most convenient. 



It is seldom wise to operate in a loose-box. If the horse is lying 

 and unable to rise it should be drawn into an open space. 



Assistants. In preparing for an operation sufficient reliable 

 assistance must be provided. Each assistant should be carefully 

 instructed beforehand in his duty, whether it be holding, casting, 

 or fixing the animal. To command efficiently and preserve order 

 the surgeon must thoroughly understand every detail himself, a 

 knowledge which can only be acquired by actual manual performance. 

 Students, therefore, should themselves have opportunities of casting 

 horses, each taking command in turn, until all know their duties. 

 In addition to the men required for holding, casting, and tying the 

 horse, the operator requires an intelligent personal assistant. An 

 expert is not always necessary ; a layman with some dexterity serves 

 the purpose very well. This assistant should wash, shave, disinfect, 

 and prepare the field of operation ; collect the needful instruments, 

 hold retractors, sponge the wound, etc. ; but as he then comes in 

 contact with the wound in nearly the same degree as the operator, 

 the same precautions are incumbent on him as on the surgeon in 

 relation to disinfecting hands, nails, etc. For extensive, complicated, 

 and dangerous operations, however, such an assistant is inadequate. 

 A qualified person is then almost indispensable, inasmuch as he 

 should know immediately what to do in the event of dangerous 

 complications arising ; what to compress, what to grasp, which 

 instruments to hand, etc. There is often no time for the lengthened 

 explanations a layman would probably require. 



Operations like the removal of tumours, etc., are seldom very 

 urgent ; the surgeon has full time, therefore, to make all necessary 

 preparations and to arrange for the help of a fellow -practitioner. 

 Unfortunately, however, there appears to be an impression amongst 

 many that the practitioner injures himself in the view of the owner 

 of the patient when he suggests a consultation with, or the assistance 

 of, a colleague. Others consider, on the contrary, that such a request 

 is the best means of impressing on the owner the importance of the 

 case, the difficulty of the operation, and the care which the 

 practitioner is exercising ; and many of the younger generation of 

 veterinary surgeons are beginning to adopt this view and to imitate 

 their colleagues in human surgery. 



After-treatment. In many cases the after-treatment is even 

 more important than the operation itself. The animal must be 

 carefully watched to prevent it tearing off the dressing, rubbing 



