DROPSY OF THE CHEST 



151 



needle of the ordinary hypodermatic syringe. The needle, after having 



been disinfected, is introduced into the lower third of the wall of the chest, in 



any of the interspaces between the fifth and ninth riljs, the patient being in a 



standing position or laid on a table and held by means of an assistant. The 



entrance of air into the thoracic cavity must be avoided, and to prevent 



this we must use a trocar that has a faucet, or else 



Avhere we use the ordinary trocar and canula when 



the flow of the fluid becomes stopped at any time 



from some obstruction at the end of the trocar, it is 



well to put the finger over the end of the opening 



to prevent the air from being sucked into the cavity. 



When the animal coughs violently the trocar must 



be withdrawn or the finger kept on the opening of 



the trocar or when the fluid becomes bloody or the 



point of the trocar is felt resting on the pleura. 



It is well to empty the cavity slowly and never 



entirely, as the two faces of affected pleurae coming 



in contact with each other and rubbing often causes 



acvite hemorrhage. After withdrawing the trocar 



it is well to paint the opening with some iodoform fig. 65.— Trocars for punL- 



collodion. t"""*^ «^ ^^^ ^^°''=^^- 



When the fiuid obtained is purulent, it generally requires several 

 punctures to empty the cavity. The animal should have a nutritive 

 but easily digested diet — soup, beef tea, or lean meat, and when the fever 

 is high, antijoyrine in doses of 0.5 to 2.0, according to the size of the dog. 



Dropsy of the Chest. 



(Hydrothorax.) 



Any accumulation of serous fluid that is not dependent on an in- 

 flammation of the pleura (that is, of a transudate) in the cavity of the 

 thorax, is called hydrothorax. This is often a symptom of general dropsy 

 or it may arise from chronic disease of any of the organs (see ascites). 

 In such cases the effusion first shows itself in the chest when dropsy of 

 the skin (anasarca) exists, or as a result of disturbance of the venous 

 system, particularly of the portal. 



Pathological Anatomy. — Hydrothorax, as a rule, affects both sides 

 of the chest, Frohner records a case where one side only was affected. 

 We find in the cavity of the chest, a clear j^ellow fluid, sometimes stained 

 with blood and distinguished from a pleuritic exudate by the absence 

 of fibrin, very little cellular elements, little albumen, and by a low 

 specific gravity. The pleura is oedematous and swollen, and in long- 

 continued cases it has a flaccid or macerated look. The lungs do not 



