SURGICAL DISEASES 



In a work of this nature it is impossible to go much into detail 

 of surgical procedures. In the hog, surgical operations, except cas- 

 tration, are not very common. There is a large amount of room for 

 development in this branch of veterinary surgery, but it is within 

 the province of text-books upon the subject of surgery rather than 

 a work of this character to discuss the various surgical procedures 

 that are suited to the hog. Some of the more common surgical 

 conditions met with in hogs and the proper method of handling 

 them will, however, be taken up briefly in the following pages. 



CHOKE (OBSTRUCTION OF ESOPHAGUS) 



This condition, which might be well regarded as a surgical one 

 in that the treatment is largely surgical rather than medicinal, has 

 already been discussed under the head of Diseases of the Esoph- 

 agus, and will be found in that section. 



RUPTURE (HERNIA) 



Rupture, or hernia, is a quite common accident in the hog, es- 

 pecially in growing pigs, and is one that is worthy of consideration, 

 as a great amount of good can be done in the treatment of rupture 

 if the start is made early enough. 



By a rupture is meant a condition in which a coil of the in- 

 testines or a part of the abdominal fat protrudes through the 

 abdominal wall, and lies superficially beneath the skin. The open- 

 ing through which the contents of the rupture escape may be quite 

 small, but enough of the bowel or omental fat may escape to form 

 a large-sized tumor. 



Rupture occurs, as a rule, at those points on the abdominal 

 wall where there is a weak spot. Most common locations are the 

 scrotum and the region of the navel or umbilicus. At the scrotum 

 hernia occurs through the inguinal canal, which is the passageway 



