176 THE COMMON COLICS OF THE HORSE 



has received the amount of attention it merited, and been 

 admitted into the ranks of useful, every-day operations. 

 Even now I am afraid that there are not a few w^ho look 

 upon this simple means of affording relief with a certain 

 amount of awe. 



Personally, I have been in the habit of using the trocar 

 and cannula in these cases for several years. As a result, 

 one untoward case has fallen to my lot. The animal 

 afterwards developed unmistakable symptoms of 

 peritonitis. Fortunately he recovered. In one way the 

 case was a lesson to me. I had, in consequence of con- 

 stantly employing it, grown to hold the operation in a 

 certain amount of contempt, and must confess to having 

 grown somewhat careless as to the matter of cleanliness. 

 That case pointed out to me the absolute necessity for 

 a scrupulous care of the trocar and cannula. It is not 

 sufficient to have it apparently clean — it must be anti- 

 septically spotless. 



No matter what care is taken of the instrument, a 

 rather more common sequel to this operation than the 

 above occurs in the appearance of a small abscess at the 

 seat of puncture. Probably even the occasional appear- 

 ance of this small trouble would also be done away with 

 if the spot to be punctured were first rendered aseptic, 

 in like manner to the instrument, a procedure that the 

 exigencies of the case do not always allow of. 



With regard to the seat of operation, there is a general 

 consensus of opinion favouring the right flank, at a point 

 equidistant from the last rib, the anterior angle of the 

 ileum, and the transverse processes of the lumbar 

 vertebrae. As a matter of fact, any position in the right 

 or left flank that offers resonance on percussion may be 

 tapped with benefit. Preference, however, should always 

 be given to the right, as the mere fact of the colon and 



