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HEMOSTASIS. VAS 
aie best and strongest (fig. 36). Their jaws are conical and dentated. 
When, during an operation, the blood suddenly escapes from the 
‘mouths of a divided artery, an assistant takes hold of them with the 
forceps, and keeps them off the field of the action of the bistoury. 
With these forceps, dizeresis upon vascular structures can be made 
without arrests and without noticeable escape of blood. They can 
be applied in various numbers, as they are required; all are left in 
place until the end of the operation ; they are pressed upon the small 
arteries for a few minutes only, and when they are taken off the 
hemorrhage has stopped. If large vessels have been divided, their 
ligature can be readily made. At times the forceps are left long 
Fig. 36.—Forceps. 
enough to produce a permanent hemostasis ; when, for instance, 
they have been applied upon deeply situated blood vessels, difficult 
to isolate and ligate. They are then fixed between the various. 
pieces of the dressing or between the lips of the wound. They are 
removed after 24 or 48 hours, according to the size of the blood 
' vessels they served to obliterate. 
The necessary forceps, threads, and all objects used, must be 
made antiseptic, an indispensable condition to obtain cicatrization by 
first intention, or if one wishes to avoid accidents by infection. 
For wounds of cavities whose walls bleed abundantly, plugging 
with Iodoformed gauze is also a good way to obtain hemostasis after 
an operation. 
