CHAPTER VII. 
ARTERIES. 
i 
WOUNDS. 
In general, arterial wounds exist in connection with solution of con- 
tinuity of the tegument; this condition is sometimes missing, as in the 
-case of wounds made by swallowed foreign bodies ; those may reach the 
aorta and in their migrations through the tissues injure large arterial or 
venous vessels. If the lesion is very small, there is no hemorrhage; the 
-anatomical elements, separated for one instant, retract after the passage of 
the wounding body ; repair takes place by first intention. More commonly 
there is hemorrhage; at times—specially if the artery deeply situated 
communicates with the exterior by only a narrow tract—the hemostasis 
takes place rapidly by the formation of a thrombus, “ wedge-like,’”’ which 
‘separates the external coat in the surrounding of the opening, depresses 
slightly the internal membranes and obliterates the wound. Circulation ; 
goes on in the wounded blood vessel; a consecutive aneurism is excep- 
tional in animals. (Renault.) 
The carotid or the saphena are the vessels which, in most of the obser- 
vations of arterial punctures, are spoken of (during phlebotomy) ; in a few 
it is the aorta or one of its divisions. In performing puncture of the 
vagina in ovariotomy, if the point of the bistouri reaches one of the large 
arteries of the pelvis, the blood escapes in the peritoneum ; no pressure 
being applied on the vessel, death occurs in a few minutes. With a 
therapeutical object, punctures of arteries have sometimes been performed 
(acupuncture, electro puncture) ; but in these operations the point remains 
acertain time in the interior of the vessel and insures the obliteration. 
‘The experiments of Velpeau have demonstrated the coagulating action 
of foreign bodies. 
Wounds with sharp instruments are penetrating or non-penetrating. The 
latter are not serious; whether they run through the sheath only or extend 
‘to the middle coat, they seldom, in animals, expose them to the forma- 
tion of aneurisms. 
Penetrating wounds divide the vessel completely or incompletely. Large 
arteries entirely divided by a transverse section give rise to such abundant 
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