APPLICATION OF TAPE SETONS. 103 



wound be neglected because the seton has been removed, but it 

 must receive needed attention for several days. The openings of 

 the tract will still require cleaning, and the residue of the pus will 

 still requu'e the aid of pressure to effect the final emptying of the 

 wound. 



Tape setons are applied upon all parts of the body, but more 

 frequently, of course, in regions where their therapeutic effects are 

 most needed, for which reason they will be most commonly 

 found on the breast, the ribs, the shoulder, the hip, the thigh, the 

 stifle, the abdomen, the neck, the cheeks and the foot. 



(a) The Breast. — This is a very common location for the setons. 

 In inserting it the animal is secured in the usual w\ay, but to pre- 

 vent his striking the operator with his fore feet it will be necessary 

 to have one of his hind legs raised and firmly held. If there is 

 but one seton it must be introduced on the median line ; if two, 

 one on each side of it. 



The position assumed by the operator varies, according to the 

 ability he possesses, and the hand with which he operates. If 

 ambidexter, and but a single seton is to be introduced, he can 

 operate from either side of the animal, and if two are to be insert- 

 ed, he can change the needle from one hand to the other, to suit 

 his convenience, without change of position. 



This seton is to extend from the anterior extremity of the 

 sternum downward and backward, under the chest, or between 

 the fore legs, backward beyond the elbow. When the incision of 

 exit has been made, and the tape introduced into the eye of the 

 needle, the instrument must be drawn away in the direction op- 

 posite to that in which it was introduced, to avoid the possibiHty 

 of doing injury with the point or the edges. 



{Jjl) On the Ribs or the Chest. — Setons are used in these 

 regions for the treatment of diseases of the thoracic organs. 

 Sometimes as many as three are applied, either on one or both 

 sides of the chest. They should be placed in a slightly oblique 

 dii'ection from before backward and from above downward, 

 beginning about the middle of the side of the thorax, and ex- 

 tending as far as the lower border of the chest, occupying, there- 

 fore, the lower half of the thoracic cavity. The manner of insert- 

 ing the seton in the tract made by an incision with a bistoury 

 through a fold of the skin has been already described, and a 

 repetition in minute detaU becomes iinnecessary. 



