250 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY 



By the term nephrolithotomy is indicated the operation 

 of cutting into the kidney in order to remove a stone. A 

 laparotomy is performed in the usual wa}' in the flank on the 

 side suspected to be affected, and the kidney is exposed to 

 view. As a rule, the calculus is situated in the pelvis. An 

 incision is made directly down on to it, it is removed, and the 

 wound is drawn together with fine sutures. The peritoneal 

 wound is treated in the usual waj'. 



Nephrectomy (removal of the kidney) has been performed 

 many times experimentally on healthy animals, and in 

 human surgery it has taken its place amongst the useful 

 operations. In canine practice, in addition to the difficulty of 

 diagnosing a tumour, calculus, or other disease of the kidney 



Fig. i6o.— Small Renal Calculi showing Two of the Shapes assumed. 



necessitating its removal, we have the fact that (in the case 

 of calculus at all events), as a rule, when one kidney is 

 affected the other has generally become affected before pro- 

 fessional aid has been sought. 



In thin animals the kidney can be removed by an incision 

 made in the median line, and this gives a little advantage 

 when uncertainty exists as to which is the diseased side. In 

 larger patients an incision is made in the flank just below the 

 lumbar region. The operation is not difficult ; the kidney is 

 carefully separated from its situation under the loins, two 

 silk ligatures are passed round its pedicle, and an incision is 

 made between them. The peritoneal wound is sutured and 

 treated in the usual way. 



