56 



DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE APPARATUS 



balls, pieces of money, rubber balls, needles, hair balls. These produce 

 the following symptoms: vomiting, loss of appetite, restlessness, animal 

 screaming with pain or howling, animal attempts to bite all who touch 

 him, colic and in the later stages great depression; where foreign bodies 

 become lodged in the pyloric portion of the stomach (see Fig. 27) there 

 may be no other symptom than acute catarrh of the stomach. We may 

 detect the foreign bodies by palpation or by means of the Rontgen or 

 X-rays. 



Fig. 27. — X-ray picture of coin in the stomach. 



Therapeutics. — If the foreign body is diagnosed, give an emetic. 

 Moller advises giving a good meal before the emetic is administered so 

 as to assist in holding the foreign body when the emesis occurs and this 

 prevents it doing any harm to the tissues. If the emetic does not succeed 

 in removing the foreign body, laparogastrotomy must be performed. 

 This is described in detail under that head later. In performing that 

 operation for this particular case, the incision should be made on the linea 

 alba close up to the xyphoid cartilage and thus bring the incision close 

 and parallel to the great curvature of the stomach; or, as Frick advises, on 

 the diaphragmatic position of the stomach directly on the great curva- 

 ture. In this operation, great care must be taken not to cut any of the 

 large arteries of the stomach, which are located on the great curvature. 



