372 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



advisable. When matters are proceeding well, the sutures 

 may be allowed to remain some days longer. 



SEQUELAE. — (I) Peritonitis follows more frequently 

 than any other complication. Its cause lies in unclean meth- 

 ods, especially unclean sutures, or possibly the unavoidable 

 falling of hairs into the wound. 



2. Recurrence of the Hernia. — The sutures may give way 

 and again leave the intestines protruding into the subcutem, 

 but if the skin sutures prove trustworthy, the subcutaneous 

 cicatrization, especially if the supporting bandages are con- 

 tinued for some time, may accomplish as much as was ex- 

 pected of the buried sutures. 



3. Chloroform Pneumonia. — The long duration of the 

 anaesthesia, the enfeebled conditon from dieting and the nat- 

 ural exhaustive effects of the operation, combine to cause 

 this sequel with unfortunate frequency. But as neither of 

 these causes can very well be avoided this complication must 

 be charged up as an expected contingency. 



Operation for Inguinal Hernia in Females. 



INDICATION S.— In males bubonoceles descend 

 through the internal abdominal ring into the tunica vaginalis, 

 which constitutes the internal integument of the hernial sac. 

 If the descent extends as far as the scrotum they are desig- 

 nated as scrotal hernia or oscheoceles, hence the difference 

 between these two conditions is simply one of degree of de- 

 scent. 



In the female, whose inguinal canals are rudimentary and 

 contain no peritoneal process, a bubonocele develops by the 

 passage of intestines through the short canal, into the sub- 

 cutaneous space beneath, dragging with it in its downward 

 passage a fold of parietal peritoneum which normally seals 

 over the internal abdominal ring. 



Inguinal hernias of this variety occur frequently in 

 bitches, but are rare in other domestic females. In the bitch 

 they are the most common of all hernias, appearing in the 

 form of large fluctuant masses which fill up the space be- 

 tween the last mamma and the thigh. 



These hernias may contain intestines, omentum, a cornu 

 of the uterus which may be gravid, and the bladder. 



PRE-OPERATIVE PREPARATION.— The patient is 

 dieted for some days and purged in order to facilitate reduc- 

 tion and to reduce the abdominal tension which would tend 

 to tax the sutured orifice. 



