g6 CANINE AND FELINE SURGERY. 



tomy have become necessary, the prognosis is grave,b ecause, 

 as a rule, the patient is debilitated from inability to take proper 

 nourishment and from absorption of septic materials. Death 

 from collapse may occur within a few hours afterwards, and 

 in one case met with death suddenly occurred four days after- 

 wards from invagination and strangulation of the bowel, a 

 large piece of the healthy portion having tunnelled its way 

 into the dilated portion where the obstruction had existed, 

 before the latter had had time to contract and recover its 

 tone and normal size. 



Enterotomy. — This operation, which consists in opening the 

 intestine, is performed in order to remove any foreign body 

 which may have lodged there. The animal is prepared, 

 secured, and anssthetised in the same way as for laparotomy ; 

 the abdomen is incised, the piece of intestine containing the 

 foreign body brought into view, the bowel being lightly clamped 

 above and below in order to prevent exit of intestinal matter 

 when the incision is made. Pieces of rubber tubing held tightly 

 around the bowel with artery forceps improvise very well for 

 the clamps. Aseptic lint or cloth is placed around the bowel 

 to prevent it from touching anything dirty, and an incision is 

 made in a longitudinal direction over the foreign body in that 

 part of the intestine which seems to be the least congested. 

 If thought desirable an attempt may be made to pass the 

 foreign body along to a more favourable spot for the opera- 

 tion. The obstruction is then extracted, the edges of the 

 wound and the intestine above and below as far as the 

 clamped portion being cleansed and disinfected. Lembert's 

 sutures {see Fig. 26, p. 53) are inserted, and the wound 

 in the abdominal wall treated as after an ordinary laparo- 

 tomy. 



Careful dieting and after-treatment is necessary, as already 

 described after gastrotomy. If the patient has not already 

 become weak, the prognosis, although always grave, may be 

 considered fairly good. 



During the last two years, cases of recovery have been re- 



