602 ArcIDEXTS AFTER PARTI'RITIOX. 



The uterus of the Cow has been successfully deprived of its circula- 

 tion by means of clams about an inch thick and ten inches long. They 

 were applied close to the vulva, and the two ends fastened together by 

 twine. 



Saint-Cyr alludes to a successful case of amputation of the uterus in 

 a woman, by means of caustic clavis, or rather a clamp ; the operator 

 being M. Valette of Lyons ; and he believes that the same procedure 

 might be advantageously adopted by veterinary surgeons. He recom- 

 mends the long curved clams used for hernia, and suggests that the 

 groove be filled either with chloride of zinc, or with tallow powdered 

 over with corrosive sublimate. 



By whatever procedure the pedicle of the tumour is rigidly com- 

 pressed, the uterus has afterwards to be excised. Some veterinarians 

 are of opinion that it is better to wait until it is completely mortified, 

 or even until it sloughs away spontaneously; and they allege, in justifi- 

 cation of this opinion, the danger of htemorrhage when dealing with 

 such a large and vascular organ as the uterus is at parturition. Others, 

 dreading the dangers resulting from the retention of such an enormous 

 mass suspended behind the animal, counsel its immediate amputation. 

 The incessant traction it exercises on the vagina, the obnoxious odour 

 it gives off, the contact with the absorbing surface of the septic products 

 resulting from its mortification, expose the animal, they declare, to 

 serious accidents, which can only be averted by at once cutting away 

 the uterus. 



These dangers are certainly most serious ; and as the risk of hemor- 

 rhage may be obviated by sufficiently constricting the base or pedicle of 

 the mass, it is advisable to amputate it at once, and at a short distance 

 — from an inch to three inches — behind the constriction. 



Trasbot^ brings under notice the use of the ecrascnr in amputating 

 the uterus. The case to which he refers was not successful ; but it is 

 probable that this result was due to the imperfect or improper manner 

 in which the instrument was used. 



With the ecraseur, the tissues should be slowly and gently cut through. 

 The entire pedicle may be included, or the chain may be passed through 

 the middle of it by means of a needle, like the double ligature. But 

 there is grave risk in this mode of amputation, as the abdominal cavity 

 is opened when the pedicle is divided by the chain, and through the 

 opening the intestines may escape, or blood and the products of in- 

 flammation and putrefaction may enter the peritoneal cavity, and give 

 rise to a grave condition. 



The elastic ligature (Dittel's) has been suggested as worth a trial, and 

 if properly applied the result might be favourable. Indeed, it has been 

 successfully employed in amputating the uterus of a Cow, a Sheep, and 

 a Bitch. The operation is simply applying a long piece of india-rubber 

 tubing around the pedicle, and tying it firmly there. The tissues are 

 cut through by the continuous pressure, which causes obliteration of the 

 vessels and cessation of nutrition. 



It has also been suggested that Esmarch's method of amputation by 

 clastic compression of the part to be excised, might be most successfully 

 employed in ablation of the uterus in animals. Considering the volume 

 of the uterine tumour and its great vascularity, there must be an immense 



^ Bulletin de la Socie'te Centrale de Medecine Vtttrinaire, 1870. 



