410 



VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



Third Step. — Removing the Contents. — The contents are 

 then removed, handful. by handful, until the rumen is entirely 

 , empty. The prevailing practice of allowing- a part of the con- 

 tents to remain is inimical to the best results, and should be 

 discontinued. If the hand is large the incision may be made 

 longer than the prescribed four inches, and matter can be fur- 

 ther facilitated by oiling the hand and arm to overcome, in 

 part, the friction from the rough mucous membrane of the 

 rumen over which they must travel so often before the enor- 

 mous mass is removed. 



Fig. 206 — Rumenotomy. Drawing the Incised Rumen through the 

 Abdominal Incision. 



When the operation is performed for the removal of single 

 foreign bodies or accumulated particles previously men- 

 tioned, the hand is passed into the rumen, arm's length, and 

 a search made for them. 



Fourth Step. — Rumenorrhaphy. — The edges of the 

 wound in the rumen are now cleansed of all adhering par- 

 ticles and then sutured with a Czerny-Lembert of catgut. 

 The Czerny suture alone may answer, but to secure more cer- 

 tain healing the Lembert should be added. 



The practice of leaving the wound wide open -and depend- 



