206 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



a much shorter time to form, the dangers of 

 internal blood clotting would be very great. 

 Thus it will be seen that time must be allowed 

 for bleeding to cease by clotting. 



Before arresting the bleeding we must remove 

 all dirt from near the blood-vessels so as to be 

 sure that no foreign matter will be enclosed in 

 them. A good flow of blood will always clean 

 the vessels, so when there is a good flow of 

 blood there is less danger of infection. In stop- 

 ping the blood flow it is useless and dangerous 

 to plug the wound up with cloths, because we 

 only increase the temperature of the part and 

 encourage continued bleeding. If we cannot 

 apply pressure to the artery on the heart side of 

 the wound, we must cut down on to it and take 

 hold of it with forceps. In small, deep punc- 

 tures, if there is much bleeding, after the wound 

 has been thoroughly syringed out with anti- 

 septics, antiseptic double cyanide compressed 

 gauze should be rammed tightly into the wound ; 

 this will not allow bleeding to continue. Stuffing 

 a wound with cotton wool and rags will not, as 

 a rule, stop bleeding. 



If the artery can be reached it is either tied 

 with aseptic silk or closed with artery forceps, 

 which are kept on for a few minutes to allow tiie 

 blood inside to clot, and then carefully removed. 

 If, however, the bleeding is slight, as is the case 

 in many flesh (muscle) wounds, no attention 

 need be paid to it until the whole wound has 

 been thoroughly cleaned. 



Cleaning a wound consists in removing by 

 knife, or a stream of liquid, all visible foreign 

 matter, cutting off ragged bits that tend to do 

 harm, and then making it aseptic by free syringe- 

 irrigation with a suitable antiseptic, which must 

 not be too strong. (See Sec. 799.) Then, if 

 bleeding continues, the surface can be syringed 

 over with an astringent, such as a 10 per cent, 

 solution of tincture of iron (1 tincture to 10 

 water). 



806. Although the wound may be absolutely 

 clean at this period, it must not be closed up, 

 but left open, as the formation of pus is sure 

 to continue ; for this reason the wound must be 

 only covered sufficiently to keep dirt from getting 

 in, and must be dressed night and morning. 

 Rest must be obtained to assist in healing. 



A most important point is that of securing 

 proper drainage, which consists in having a free 

 downward exit from the lowest portion of the 

 wound. If the bottom of the wound does not 

 drain of its own accord, a hole must be made as 

 an outlet and a suture (strip) of aseptic linen 

 must be passed through the hole to keep the 

 passage open. If perfect drainage is not ob- 

 tained, pus will lie in the bottom of the wound 

 and cause blood poisoning. Healthy wounds 

 always heal from the back, or bottom, but if 

 neglected, or the mouth of the wound is allowed 

 to close too soon, pus may become enclosed, and 



the wound will have to be reopened. The wound 

 must never be allowed to heal except from the 

 bottom or back, so that it gradually closes 

 together until the edges unite. Pus is produced 

 by pus-producing bacteria (streptococci and 

 staphylococci), which are always present in the 

 air, except where the air is absolutely pure. 

 They produce pus by forming ferments that dis- 

 solve albumen and mucin, etc. After dissolving 

 these materials they decompose them into less 

 complicated materials and eventually into their 

 original elements nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, 

 oxygen, sulphur, etc. 



807. In very large wounds, or those in which 

 the skin is badly torn, stitches of surgical silk 

 are used to draw the edges together ; but the 

 wound must never be closed entirely ; an open- 

 ing at the bottom for drainage must always be 

 kept, and one at the top communicating with it, 

 into which the antiseptic solution can be forced. 

 It is often necessary to leave a drainage-tube in 

 the wound. 



In syringing out a wound, considerable force 

 should be used in order to reach any microbes 

 that might be embedded in the tissue. In most 

 cases stitches are unnecessary, and the wound 

 will heal up of its own accord as long as we 

 syringe it out night and morning with an anti- 

 septic solution and then with an astringent. In 

 human practice, of course, it is so much more 

 easy to make wounds aseptic, to have aseptic 

 surroundings, and therefore to keep wounds 

 closed, but with horses it is always risky. Much 

 the best results are always obtained by leaving 

 the wounds open, except where large muscles 

 are widely separated. 



808. When a horse has been wounded for 

 some little time and the wound has been exposed 

 to infection, there is the possibility of tetanus 

 (lockjaw) germs having gained admission to the 

 wound. If they have only been in a few hours 

 they can be destroyed by the use of antiseptics 

 before they have produced the tetanic poison. 

 But if they have been in the wound for several 

 hours or even days, their poison may have 

 already got into the system. In such cases it is a 

 very wise procedure to give the horse at once an 

 injection in the neck of 3,000 ampules of fresh 

 anti-tetanic serum, and to repeat this in twenty- 

 four hours. I have never known of a horse 

 contracting lockjaw when the serum has been 

 injected before any outward signs of lockjaw 

 have appeared. (See Sec. 620.) 



809. Sewing Wounds. If stitching is re- 

 sorted to, specially curved surgical needles 

 which have been sterilised and soaked for five 

 minutes in an antiseptic solution other than corro- 

 sive sublimate and sterilised silk are used. In 

 horse wounds the best method is to put a single 

 stitch through both edges at least half an inch 

 from the edge, and to draw the edges of the 

 wound nearly together, and then to tie the ends 



