cryptorchideCtomy 273 



or intentially made very large. In every case some pains 

 must be taken to prevent this accident, and when the per- 

 foration has been a large one special treatment becomes es- 

 sential. The recommendations are described in step 6. 

 (3) Abscesses in the inguinal canal sometimes supervene, 

 and may cause considerable annoyance, and even death, 

 after a protracted indisposition lasting several weeks or 

 more. They are treated by early evacuation and antiseptic 

 irrigations with hydrogen peroxide. (4) CEdema of the 

 sheath and ventral surface of the abdomen, frequently follow 

 the operation, but unless they reflect from a septic surgical 

 wound, they are harmless. (See Castration, page 244) 



(5) Scirrhous cord, while rare does occur occasionally 

 after cryptorchidectomy. The treatment does not differ 

 from that of the same condition following ordinary castra- 

 tion, but on account of its close proximity to the abdominal 

 cavity operative treatment is much more dangerous. 



(6) Haemorrhage from the inguinal veins is an outward 

 event of the operation that sometimes occurs when the tear- 

 ing open of the inguinal canal with the hand is done too 

 harshly, and especially when the incision of the scrotum has 

 been extended too deeply, that is beyond the prescribed 

 limits, — the skin and the dartos. If the incision is carried at 

 once beyond the depth of these two integuments the hand 

 either passes beneath the inguinal plexus of veins or else ex- 

 poses them to injury during the operation. This haemorrhage 

 is both annoying and serious ; serious when a large one is 

 ruptured high up in the canal where it can not easily be li- 

 gated. The accident furthermore delays the procedure, 

 complicates matters, and always excites considerable anxiety 

 on the part of those interested in the animal. 



Cryptorchidectomy in Other Domestic Animals. 



In the dog, the boar and the buck the operation is best 

 performed through a median line laparotomy, but it must 

 always be preceded by a careful examination of the inguinal 

 canal to determine with certainty that the case is one of in- 

 tra-abdominal cryptorchidism and not a simple "high flank- 

 er," which of* course could not be removed by way of the 

 abdominal cavity. The incision is made in the median line 

 between the umbilicus and brim of the pubis, just long 

 enough to admit the index finger, which, after being ad- 

 mitted, hooks up the testicle or its appendages with facility. 



In bulls, young or old, the flank laparotomy is prefer- 



