128 WOUND TREATMENT 



The majority of practitioners have thus far not 

 attempted to obtain primary wound healing in any 

 except small surgical wounds. Often surgeons do not 

 properly prepare their fields of operation and do not 

 give the proper care and after-treatment of surgical 

 wounds to favor this type of healing. This is deplor- 

 able, and is one of the most frequent causes of condemna- 

 tion of veterinarians. "Why veterinarians take no more 

 pains than they do to observe antiseptic precautions 

 in their surgical operations is difficult to explain. Most 

 practitioners make the plea that they have not the time 

 to do aseptic surgery, and that their clientele will not 

 pay for this kind of operation. Such surgeons are 

 really to be pitied, for it is indicative of improper under- 

 standing of aseptic surgery, as well as showing that they 

 have failed to impress their clientele by their surgical 

 efficiency. 



Advantages of Good Surgery 



If a surgeon will successfully perform two or three 

 aseptic surgical operations, in which the wounds heal 

 by primary union, he will have no difficulty in obtain- 

 ing future cases and a good fee for aseptic surgical 

 operations in the same community. It is not an impos- 

 sibility and, further, it is not difficult to obtain primary 

 wound healing even in large lacerated wounds. ■ Cer- 

 tainly, time is required to prepare the wound, but after 

 the first dressing little, if any, attention is required, 

 and the advantages obtained more than offset the extra 

 time required i^ placing tiie wound in such a condition 

 that it will heal by primary union. This type of healing 

 is rapid, and seldom leaves an unsightly scar; thus the 

 animal is back in service in a very short time. The 

 value of the animal is not then depreciated by unsightly 

 scars, and the actual time required of the surgeon is 



