DYSTOKIA DEPENDING ON ANTERIOR PRESENTATION. 467 



Indications. 



The indications for extraction are the adjustment of the hind-limbs. 

 This adjustment is all the more difficult as the foetus is well advanced in 

 the pelvis, and energetic traction has been much employed. Retropul- 

 sion must be resorted to, the hind-quarters of the foetus being pushed 

 as far from the inlet as possible, so that the abducted limbs may be ad- 

 ducted ; but retropulsion is not unfrequently very difficult, if not alto- 

 gether impossible in some cases. Under these circumstances, a slight ro- 

 tation of the foetus on its axis, so as to change its relations with the 

 inlet, and allow the stifles to enter the pelvic canal, has been recommended 

 and practised with success. 



Heu, quoted by Saint-Cyr, gives the following directions for this ma- 

 noeuvre : A double cord is passed round the loins of the young creature, as 

 near the vulva as possible, the two ends being tied and a stick passed 

 through them. Two turns of the stick being made to tighten the cord 

 firmly round the belly, the front part of the foetus is lifted to the level of 

 the vulva ; then the body, as well as the lever — the stick — is rotated from 

 right to left ; after a little manipulation the resistance is overcome. Heu 

 has by this means been able to extract a living calf. 



Should this operation fail, embryotomy is the last resource. This may 

 perhaps be best effected by removing the sternum of the foetus and the 

 thoracic organs, so that the walls of the chest will readily fall together ; 

 the hand and arm can then be passed between the foetus and the pelvis 

 until the hind-limbs are reached ; these are seized by the upper and 

 front part, and adducted one after the other. When this recommenda- 

 tion cannot be carried into practice, the trunk of the foetus should be 

 divided {see " Embryotomy "), the hind-quarters pushed into the uterus, 

 and version effected, when delivery can be accomplished in the posterior 

 presentation. In order to prevent injury to the uterus or genital pass- 

 ages, as much of the skin as possible should be left to cover the divided 

 end of the spine. 



This procedure, however, is not always successful. Peuch (Saint-Cyr, Op. cii., p. 475) 

 was called at a very late period to attend a Cow which, during protracted parturition, 

 had been subjected to very severe handling, violent attempts having been made to extract 

 the foetus ; this was consequently so firmly wedged by the haunches and croup in the 

 maternal pelvis, that Peuch could not pass his hand between the young creature and the 

 uterine walls. Finding delivery impossible without embryotomy, he divided the foetus 

 at the loins and tried to push the posterior part into the uterus, but unsuccessfully. 

 Extraction was impossible, and the Cow was killed by the butcher for food. 



Deviation of the Hind-limbs in the Pelvis, the Anterior Part 

 OF the Body Presenting. 



This malpresentation, known to the German veterihary obstetrists as 

 the " vertical-abdominal" or " dog-sitting position" {Bauch-Vertikallage^ 

 Hunde-Sitzige Lage), is not at all uncommon, and is one of the most for- 

 midable, perhaps, which can be encountered. First described by Canu 

 in 1837 {Recueil dg Med. Veterinaire, 1837, p. 444), it has been alluded 

 to by a number of veterinary surgeons, and it has also been mentioned 

 in every work on veterinary obstetrics published on the Continent. 



Since that time it has been met with in the Mare, as well as the Cow, 

 and consists essentially in the advance of the hind-limbs of the foetus in 



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