TRAUMATIC INDIGESTION OF THE OX 143 



Sharp-pointed foreign bodies produce symptoms of sub- 

 acute gastro-enteritis, which is intermittent in course. The 

 patient shows usually symptoms of indigestion, bloating, 

 stiffness and falls off in flesh. Pinching the patient in the 

 center of the back, percussion over the region of the attach- 

 ment of the diaphragm, and palpation over the region of 

 the reticulum produce pain. The gait of the animal is stiff, 

 dyspnea appears on exercise, the temperature is somewhat 

 elevated, and the patient usually considerably prostrated. 

 Parturition, railway journeys, and placing the hind end of the 

 animal higher than the front cause the symptoms to become 

 worse. The usual treatment for indigestion is in'^ective. 

 As a rule, in time symptoms of traiunatic pericarditis develop 

 (see this). 



Diagnosis. — ^The diagnosis depends largely upon the history 

 of the case (no dietetic errors), the intermittent and variable 

 character of the symptoms, the stiffness of the patient, and 

 the result of percussion and palpation over the region of the 

 diaphragm and reticulum. It has been suggested that drugs 

 which stimulate gastric movements be used to aid in diag- 

 nosis. For instance, 1- to 2-grain doses of arecalin or 1-grain 

 doses of sulphate of veratrin given subcytaneously will cause 

 in cases of traumatic indigestion contractions of the stomach 

 with which are associated great restlessness, groaning, and a 

 general intensification of the symptoms, the condition of the 

 animal becoming worse. In ordinary indigestion, on the 

 other haiid, the administration of such drugs will tend to 

 improve the condition of the patient. There are, however, a 

 great many exceptions to this rule. In some cases a diagnosis 

 can only be made on necropsy. 



Traumatic indigestion may be confused with atony of the 

 forestomachs, bloating, tuberculosis of the mediastinal 

 lymph glands, pneumonia or pleuritis. The differentiation 

 is aided by the history of the case, the specific symptoms 

 of traumatic indigestion (stiffness, intermittency), and in 

 tuberculosis through the tuberculin test. 



Course. — ^The course of the disorder produced by foreign 

 bodies is generally chronic, lasting for weeks or months. 

 Occasionally, due to the fact that a blunt foreign body 



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