AMPUTATION OF THE UTERUS IN PROLAPSE 451 



per cent.). The irrigation .is continued until the clearness 

 of the reflux indicates that all the dirt has been washed out. 

 The irrigation may be made more perfect by washing the 

 walls of the uterus with a sponge or palm of the hand as the 

 water is being pumped into it. Straining at this stage usually 

 indicates that something is wrong; probably the inversion 

 is not completely corrected at every part. In this event 

 walking exercise will tend to straighten matters out. 



RETENTION. — Various methods may be employed to 

 prevent recurrence from straining. Packing the whole 

 uterine cavity with sterilized cheese-cloth or towels, a method 

 recommended by Martin, is given as an exceptionally suc- 

 cessful expedient. Among the methods of adoption, how- 

 ever, which seem to be the most popular with veterinary 



Fig. 236 — Method of Retaining a Prolapsed Uterus in the Cow 



practitioners, is the application of a rope truss that encircles 

 the neck, the chest and the abdomen, passes backward on 

 each side of the mammas and over the pudendum, where three 

 knots are tied, one below the vulva, one below the anus and 

 one above the root of the tail, whence the two strands pass 

 forward over the shoulders to be tied in front of the sternum. 



Amputation of the Uterus in Prolapse 

 (Vaginal Hysterectomy) 



When the various methods usually employed to retain 

 an inverted uterus have failed, or when the organ, by reason 

 of its exposure, has become irreparably damaged, amputation 

 becomes necessary. It is however, always, a dernier resorte. 



