108 Diseases of the Genital Organs 



uterus, not recently gravid, rapidly filled with blood and the 

 cervix being firm, it could not readily escape but, being re- 

 tained, aroused violent contractions like those seen when a 

 volume of fluid is inadvertently left behind when douching. 

 The difficulty passed in an hour or two and she continued ap- 

 parently well. Whenever there is any question as to the 

 course of the catheter or other instrument, the operator 

 should cautiously palpate per rectum and determine if all is 

 well. 



Not rarely, when the catheter enters the uterine cavity 

 there is a sudden inrush of air by which the uterus becomes 

 greatly ballooned, as has already been noted of the vagina 

 and rectum under similar conditions. The inflation of the 

 uterus sometimes proves annoying. It is difficult and some- 

 times impssible to douche the inflated organ until a very 

 large amount of fluid has been introduced because the liquid 

 drops downward and forward to the ovarian end of the 

 uterus while the air occupies the cervical end of the cavity 

 which is highest. If left in the uterus, it may cause colic. It 

 can be pressed out through the catheter by careful rectal 

 manipulation. (Gynecologists apparently encounter the 

 same condition in woman and some writers describe it as 

 "acute dilation of the uterus".) 



When the catheter is accidentally pushed through the uter- 

 ine wall and the peritoneal cavity is entered, there is gener- 

 ally an inrush of air through the instrument. In this one 

 regard the inflation of the uterine cavity through the cathe- 

 ter and the flow of air into the peritoneal cavity are much 

 alike but in general the rate and volume of air drawn in are 

 greater in the latter. 



When an antiseptic fluid, like a two per cent Lugol's solu- 

 tion, is introduced into the peritoneal cavity through the 

 catheter, it immediately causes marked depression and un- 

 easiness, with rapid breathing, trembling, sometimes lying 

 down, and other evidences of distress. The cow tenses her 

 abdominal walls, arches her back and visually appears to 

 be bloated. If the uterus is clean and little or no infection 

 is forced into the peritoneal cavity, lymph is soon thrown 



