SERNIAL RUPTURE. 325 



method, however, of removing hernia is the operation of herniot- 

 omy, or hernial section, which will he discussed later. 



Where we have a strangulated hernia we must attempt to reduce 

 it by pushing the contents of the hernia back into the abdominal 

 cavity. This may be accomplished either by means of taxis or 

 by hernial section. The former method is only to be used when 

 the strangulated intestines have not yet undergone any serious 

 alterations, namely, when they are not affected by gangrene, and 

 when there are no serious symptoms of a local or general character. 

 In the operation of taxis the patient must be placed in such a 

 position that the hernia occupies the highest region in the abdo- 

 men and assists the relaxation of the abdominal covering and the 

 orifice of the hernia as much as possible. We first try by manip- 

 ulation upon the orifice of the hernia with one hand, and by pres- 

 sure of the flat of the other upon the periphery of the swelling 

 to push the contents of the hernia back into the abdominal cavity. 

 When the animals are under the influence of ether or a narcotic, 

 the reduction is easier. Taxis must be considered successful when 

 the swelling of the hernia has disappeared and when the aperture 

 of the hernia can be felt, and also when the symptoms of distention 

 have gone. If the latter still continue, notwithstanding the fact 

 that the contents of the hernia seem to have disappeared, we have 

 a false reduction — that is to say, the hernial contents and pouch 

 have been shoved entirely through the orifice into the abdominal 

 cavity, or we have to deal with a volvulus or invagination of 

 the intestinal portion in the cavity; or it may be that the hernial 

 contents are crowded between layers of the abdominal muscles. 

 In the first instance the orifice of the hernia seems free, and in 

 the latter instance it is closed. 



If the attempts at taxis to produce reduction fail, or if the 

 above-mentioned contraindications are present — that is, where the 

 hernia has been left too long — we must proceed at once to perform 

 herniotomy, which must be done under the strictest antiseptic rules. 



Herniotomy is, as a rule, a rather easy operation in the dog. It may be 

 performed in two ways : with or without opening the hernial pouch. The 

 former is especially used in fresh cases of hernia with wide orifices and in 

 old cases of hernia with extended adherences of the hernial contents, where 

 the whole mass is firmly fastened together. The latter method of operation 

 is used in cases of hernia which are not complicated with a hernial pouch, 

 in strangulated hernia with considerable alteration of the contents, or with 



