PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 273 



their sustenance. Bacteria require moisture, the nitrogen- 

 ous secretions of the wound, the dead or the half-dead ele- 

 ments, in order to successfully propagate and elaborate 

 their poisonous products. If a wound is kept dry by absorb- 

 ing the secretions or by allowing them to flow out by grav- 

 ity drainage, and if the tissues are not seriously injured, the 

 remaining bacteria may well be left to the mercy of the re- 

 acting forces of the body, — the leucocytes. 



III. THE CLOSURE AND DRAINAGE.— An in- 

 fected wound must never be entirely closed, while the asep- 

 tic (surgical) one, may or may not be closed, according to 

 the amount of products it will secrete. As no wound is ever 

 hermetically sealed against infection it must never be per- 

 mitted to harbor quantities of food favorable for microbian 

 growth. Wound cavities of animals containing serum will 

 sooner or later become infected, unless the quantity is lim- 

 ited and is rapidly absorbed. The large, lacerated contu- 

 sions should be left open and their surface made uninhabit- 

 able with absorbent antiseptic powders, instead of closing 

 them to the benefit of the microbian flora. Punctured 

 wounds that cannot be drained by gravity are irrigated to 

 wash out the microbes and render them less virulent, and 

 then packed with an absorbent antiseptic fabric as a drain- 

 age expedient to take away their food. In any case where 

 free gravity drainage can be provided, combined closure and 

 drainage is the appropriate treatment. Here the wound is 

 closed with sutures except at a pendent part, which is left 

 open to allow the secretions to flow freely over the surface 

 of the body. Incised surgical wounds and well disinfected 

 incised accidental wounds may be completely closed without 

 any provision being made for drainage. But these must al- 

 ways be carefully watched for evidences of sepsis in order 

 to forestall serious complications. 



The closure of wounds with sutures is seldom successful 



