200 CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE GASTRIC COMPARTMENTS. 



The diagnosis chiefly rests on the history, and can only be of a 

 confident character when one knows what quantity and what kind of 

 foreign body has been swallowed. 



The prognosis is grave, because the animal usually dies of pro- 

 gressive exhaustion. 



Treatment. There is only one rational form of treatment — viz., 

 gastrotomy, followed by examination of the rumen and reticulum and 

 removal of the foreign body. Before undertaking operation the surgeon 

 should be fully informed as to the cause and the probable results to be 

 expected. 



(2.) Foreign bodies with one pointed extremity. These usually con- 

 sist of large-headed nails, or fragments of iron wire rolled up at one end, 

 which have been swallow^ed during primary mastication along with 

 forage. 



When ingested, they may become implanted at any point in the 

 gastric apparatus without necessarily penetrating deeply. When fixed 

 across the division of the reticulum, they cause slowing of its physio- 

 logical action. Should they penetrate the wall either of the reticulum 

 or of the rumen, they may attack on the right the liver, or on the left 

 the diaphragm or spleen, producing suppurating hepatitis, splenitis, or 

 respiratory disturbance. The hypochondriac region then appears sensi- 

 tive. The muscular portion of the diaphragm is partly paralysed, and 

 costal respiration set up, while frequent coughing of reflex origin is pro- 

 voked by irritation of the pneumo-gastric and diaphragmatic nerves, and 

 may give rise to suspicion of some thoracic disease, from w^hich, how^ever, 

 it is distinguished by the absence of discharge, expectoration, and pul- 

 monary symptoms. 



Finally, if implanted in the lower wall or sides of the rumen or 

 reticulum, foreign bodies may carry with them infectious agents and 

 set up localised or generalised peritonitis. 



Early diagnosis is a matter of great difficulty, as it can only rest on 

 the diaphragmatic disturbance or on the symptoms of peritonitis. 



Lesions. Small-sized sharp bodies cause lesions of trifling extent, 

 which in most cases are only indicated by retardation of movement of 

 the gastric compartments, between which and the diaphragm, and be- 

 tween the diaphragm and the posterior portions of the lung, various 

 adhesions are set up. In such cases the peripheral inflammation ends 

 by producing a fibrous sleeve, which prevents the pleural cavity becoming 

 infected. Other cases show patches of adhesive peritonitis or signs of 

 generalised peritonitis, the real cause of which often evades discovery 

 during life. 



Treatment. Gastrotomy is the sole means of effecting a cure, but we 

 are forced to admit that it only gives good results when the operator 



