22 2 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



spleen on the occluded side of the organ, as close to the 

 line of ligature as possible, and an eighth of an inch from 

 the edge or border side of the turn ; this being done in order 

 that the next loop shall include the spleen where the needle 

 has previously passed through, so that any oozing along this 

 track shall be stopped when the loop was drawn tight. 

 The needle is then repassed through the spleen from the 

 under to the upper surface half an inch further on, and 

 a double turn again taken and drawn tight. Continuing 

 in this way, the spleen is traversed. A reef-knot is then 

 tied and the ends cut short. The occluded end of the spleen 

 is then cut through close to the line of the ligature.' 



Interrupted, instead of continuous, interlaced ligatures are 

 sometimes used. 



Prognosis. — Following out his method of continuous 

 ligature, Jordan had twenty - one successes out of twenty- 

 two cases, the animals being Indian pariah dogs \'arying in 

 ages from a month upwards. In nineteen of them the lower 

 half of the spleen was excised ^\'ithout a single fatalit)- or 

 noticeable disturbance afterwards ; in the remaining three, in 

 which the upper half was excised, all the animals showed 

 great constitutional disturbance, and one death occurred 

 from shock. This authority concludes that it is the removal 

 of the upper half of the spleen which is full of danger, on 

 account of the risk of shock and after-haemorrhage, and 

 that it is much more difficult to operate upon than the 

 lower half. 



Removal of Tumours from the Abdominal Organs. 



Diagnosis of tumours of the abdominal organs can usually 

 be made with certaint)- in thin emaciated patients, but in 

 fat animals it is often a matter of difficulty. The liver and 

 spleen, and the uterus and o\aries in the case of the bitch, 

 are the organs most commonly affected (see pp. 218 and 295), 



