RADICAL OPERATION FOR VENTRAL HERNIA 



567 



brim of the pubis and thus bears down upon the unsupported 

 abdominal parietes until an enormous hernia is produced. 

 The accident is undoubtedly predisposed by a rarified condi- 

 tion of the skeleton (osteomalacia) and is always incurable. 

 As regards the prudence of surgical interference against 

 these abnormalities it may be said that so long as they are 

 not too unsightly and are compatible with health, they should 

 be left strictly alone. The operation is a dangerous one, the 

 omentum is generally firmly adhered to. the sac, the expense 

 is always considerable and the actual increase in the value of 





Pig. 179 — Enormous Ventral Hernia Due to Detachment of the Prepubian 



Tendon. 



the affected subject is trivial. In fact, after every phase of 

 the proposal to operate is carefully weighed, pro and con, the 

 decision is generally against meddlesome intervention. Here 

 and there, however, the practitioner is called upon to act. 

 An unsightly protrusion on the abdomen of an otherwise ex- 

 cellent horse may sometimes be regarded as sufficient cause 

 for interference by a fastidious owner. In bovines, relief is 

 sometimes sought in an attempt to reclaim an excellent indi- 

 vidual. Here there is always salvage by slaughtering for 

 food when the operation seems destined to fail. 



In recent ventral hernia attempt must always be made to 



