CHAPTER XI. 



CHOKE- 

 RADICAL Operation Against Choke in Solipeds. 



DEFINITION. — A method of washing out oesophageal 

 impactions by means of the stomach-tube and force-pump. 



INDICATIONS.— This radical intervention against 

 choke in horses is indicated as a last resort after the more 

 simple methods have failed. Choke in horses is best 

 described as an impaction of the oesophagus with masticated 

 food ; — hay, oats, corn, etc. It is often predisposed by a 

 dilatation in the thoracic portion of the tube, due to previous 

 impactions. When food is arrested en masse in the oesoph- 

 agus of horses the walls are stretched, weakened and then 

 permanently dilated, leaving a cavity that is prone to over- 

 load at any time. Dry feed is devoured too rapidly for the 

 defective oesophagus to handle. In the first few attacks the 

 cure may be spontaneous from the contractions of the walls 

 and the copious flow of saliva swallowed, or it may respond 

 to such simple remedies as drenching, washing out with a 

 stomach tube, or the administration of eserine or arecoline • 

 hypodermically ; but when repeated attacks have produced 

 a dilatation of considerable size and the dilated cavity be- 

 comes impacted with feed, a more radical interference be- 

 comes necessary. 



Formidable chokes are seen chiefly in old horses which 

 have suffered from minor attacks during previous years. On 

 account of the tendency to spontaneous cure the first few at- 

 tacks may have escaped notice. 



In the management of choked horses the practitioner 

 must be governed largely by the age and history. In young 

 animals there is no urgent demand for radical intervention, 

 as the mass will usually dislodge spontaneously, even after 

 sojourning two days or more, if all feed is withheld and 

 abundance of liquids are swallowed or forced into the 

 oesophagus. On the other hand, in older animals, especially 

 those presented with a history of previous chokes, operative 

 relief must not be postponed beyond the first twenty-four 

 hours. 



RESTRAINT. — The operation is performed in the stand- 



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