TREATMENT OF INJURED BOWEL. 515 



the bowel cleansed and replaced, the wound in the abdominal wall sewn. 

 and a dressing applied over all. In spite of great swelling, recovery 

 occurred in twenty-five days. 



In this connection, Herbet made experiments in pigs. In castrating 

 a sow, he intentionally thrust his finger through the colon, drew the injured 

 part into the skin wound, and sewed it up with waxed thread. The animal 

 received no food for several days, and recovered. The extent of the re- 

 cuperative powers is further illustrated by a case reported by Richter. 

 Whilst endeavouring to insert a seton under the belly of an excitable horse, 

 he was unable to separate the skin with his finger and forced to use a probe - 

 pointed bistoury and a seton needle. Immediately the operation was 

 completed, a yellow discharge of food issued from the wound. Examination 

 with the finger showed that the caecum had been divided to the extent 

 of £ of an inch. Within a short time 6 to 7 quarts of fluid were discharged, 

 the horse during several days having received only gruel. Richter expected 

 that the animal would die, but the owner determined not to lose its service, 

 and yoked it into a heavy manure waggon. Eight days later Richter 

 found his patient working in a plough, and perfectly well ; in twenty 

 days the seton was removed, and the horse remained perfectly healthy. 

 Such favourable conclusions are unfortunately exceptional, but they 

 emphasise the importance of always attempting treatment. 



Treatment consists in suturing the injured bowel or uterus with 

 sterilised cat-gut or silk. (For further particulars, compare " Bowel 

 Suture.") The injured organs must then be carefully cleansed and 

 disinfected, the wound and its neighbourhood being next attended 

 to. Sometimes it may be possible to cleanse the peritoneum by 

 washing out the cavity with lukewarm, previously boiled water, 

 or normal saline solution. It might be useful in certain cases to 

 provide drainage by inserting strips of iodoform gauze, or by packing 

 the parts with the same material, as is done in human surgery. The 

 subsequent treatment has already been described. The rumen 

 may be incised without danger, as in rumenotomy and puncture ; 

 but, in horses and dogs, injuries of the stomach are serious ; more 

 so, in fact, than those of the bowel and uterus. In carnivora they 

 are attended with vomiting, but, although serious, are not always 

 fatal. The treatment of injuries of the stomach is similar to that 

 of wounds of the bowel. 



Abdominal wounds, complicated with injury of the kidneys, 

 are distinguished by the passage of bloody urine, and are generally 

 accompanied by paraplegia. In such cases early slaughter is ad- 

 visable. Injuries to the bladder allow urine to enter the abdominal 

 cavity, and are recoginsed by anuria, sometimes by urine flowing 

 from the abdominal wound. They almost invariably result in death ; 

 but recovery occasionally occurs, especially in carnivora, as shown 

 by Rodloff's case. Wounds of the bowel are sometimes accompanied 

 by the passage of blood-stained fseces. In the dog, vomiting of 



