668 Veterinary Obstetrics 



extracted, care being exercised to prevent liquids from falling 

 into the peritoneal cavity. 



In multiparous animals it is usually desirable to extract all the 

 fetuses through a single uterine incision, and for this purpose it 

 is more convenient to make the opening in one cornu, near the 

 bifurcation, so that the fetuses from the other horn may be 

 readily pressed around through the uterine body to the incision 

 which has been made. In some cases, where the fetuses are 

 emphysematous and dry, they adhere so firmly to the uterine 

 walls that they cannot be moved any great distance without 

 serious injury to the organ, and consequently it may be neces- 

 sary to make two or more incisions. 



When the incision into the uterus has been made, the fetus, or 

 in multiparous animals, that fetus which is nearest to the in- 

 cision, is pressed out through the wound by compressing the 

 uterus, or the hand may be passed into the uterine cavity and 

 the fetus grasped in its membranes and drawn out. In the 

 smaller animals, with several fetuses, the others in the same horn 

 are pressed toward the opening one after another, or the operator 

 reaches his hand into the organ and removes the fetuses one by 

 one. When the incised horn has been emptied, he proceeds to 

 empty the opposite horn by pressing the fetuses into the body of 

 the uterus and then turning them toward the incision. 



When making the incision into the uterus, care should be 

 taken not to incise the fetal membranes if it is possible to detach 

 them and press the fetus out completely invested in all its 

 membranes. This may be done in the sow, bitch and cat. In 

 the cow we cannot accomplish this, and consequently it is 

 necessary to incise the fetal membranes before the fetus is re- 

 moved from the uterus. The longitudinal incision in the uterus 

 should be ample to permit the fetus to pass from it without 

 great force, lest the incision become extended, probably in a 

 transver.se direction, by the tearing of the muscular walls, pro- 

 ducing a very difficult wound to suture. 



If the fetuses are living, they should be freed from their mem- 

 branes as soon as extracted, and an as.sistant should be ready to 

 take care of them. If the fetuses are dead and the fetal mem- 

 branes decomposed, it may be advisable to carefully mop out the 

 uterine cavity with antiseptics and then to remove all liquid as 

 far as po.ssible by means of sterilized gauze. « 



