COLIC AS A RESULT OF STRANGULATION. 167 



bichromatised catgut or boiled silk. The form of suture will be found 

 described in Dollar's " Operative Technique." It may be valuable to test 

 the efficacy of decalcified bone tubes for uniting the ends of the intestine. 



The operation is long, delicate and difficult, and it is imperative not 

 to infect the abdominal cavity during its performance. To prevent this 

 the liquid and solid materials present in the bowel may be thrust upwards 

 and downwards away from the diseased part before the section is made ; 

 and in this w\ay the wound and the operator's hands are preserved from 

 infection. The intestine should be kept closed during the application of 

 sutures by means of flat clamps cautiously applied. In their absence the 

 ends may be held by an assistant, whose hands should previously have 

 been carefully disinfected. 



(3.) In cases where the serous coats of the two portions of bowel con- 

 stituting the invagination are to some extent adherent, another opera- 

 tion of a less perilous character may be performed. This consists in 

 liberating the invaginated part by means of longitudinal incision, without 

 previously disengaging the parts, and without resection. The invagi- 

 nated (external) portion of intestine is divided longitudinally ; the gan- 

 grenous part immediately becomes visible, and may be removed. The 

 operator has then only to suture the longitudinal wound, an operation 

 which is much easier and demands much less time than any circular 

 intestinal suture whatever. These operations must not be attempted 

 except in response to the express wish of the owner, who should be fully 

 informed of the dangers to which they expose the animal ; for after 

 the second day of invagination local peritonitis has often developed 

 and one is then operating on injured or infected tissues, in itself a 

 very unfavourable modifying condition. The current formula that *' the 

 operation was very successful " is not accepted in veterinary practice 

 when the patient dies three or four days afterwards. From the eco- 

 nomic standpoint it is better to slaughter animals of any value, for 

 unless secondary peritonitis has occurred, and the animal is not feverish, 

 the meat is fit for consumption. " Volvulus," or twist of the intestine, 

 is said to be almost unknown in cattle, though Eeichert records a case of 

 volvulus of the ileum. 



COLIC AS A RESULT OF STRANGULATION. 



The symptoms of this colic differ very little from those of the preceding 

 with which they are often confused. But in regard to its causation the 

 condition is essentially different. 



Causation. Strangulation of the intestine in the ox may be produced 

 in several different ways : by the passage of a loop of intestine through 

 a tear in the epiploon, through the diaphragm, mesentery, broad liga- 

 ment of the uterus, the serous layer surrounding the spermatic cord, etc., 



