744 DIGESTIVE APPAKATUS. 



side of the aims. To facilitate reduction it is best to check the 

 animal's expulsive efforts by placing a gag in the mouth. 



In more aggravated cases, when prolapsus of the rectum has 

 returned several times and the mucous membrane is gangrenous in 

 places so that such a complication as peritonitis of the pelvic cavity 

 is to be feared, it is better to amputate the prolapsed portion. 



The animal is secured either standing or lying down, and a large 

 enema is administered to remove the contents of the rectum. The 

 ■herniated portion of bowel is carefully examined, for it sometimes 

 happens that loops of intestine have become lodged in the dilated 

 peritoneal sac, produced by displacement of the rectum. In such 

 cases reduction should be effected before anything more is done, and 

 for this purpose the patient's hind quarters should be lifted or even 

 suspended. 



The operation for removal comprises tw^o stages : 



(1.) Fixation of the two layers of bowel by the passage of either 

 two or four sutures about J an inch behind the anus. 



(2.) Circular amputation of the sutured tissues ; insertion of inter- 

 rupted silk sutures through the lips of the wound ; reduction. The 

 patient is restricted to milk diet for a week. Laxative gruels, etc., 

 may then be given. 



The complication to be feared is peritonitis of the pelvic cavity 

 owing to the sutures tearing out and allowing infective material to 

 pass from the bowel into the cavity. 



Slight cases of j)rolapsus might possibly be treated by the injection 

 in lines of melted paraffin wax beneath the mucous membrane of the 

 last part of the bowel. The injection is made by means of a large 

 syringe provided with a long needle, the needle being gradually with- 

 drawn as the melted wax is expressed. Four " pillars " of wax are 

 usually injected at equidistant points. As they solidify they support- 

 the bowel and prevent the recurrence of the prolapse. The operation, 

 however, is delicate, and scarcely to be recommended in pigs. More- 

 over, in man, in whom it has chiefly been practised, the deferred results 

 have not always proved satisfactory. 



