CHAPTER XIV 



THE SURGICAL TREATMENT OF 

 INTESTINAL OBSTRUCTIONS 



A r times, in his treatment of colic, the veterinarian is on 

 the horns of a dilemma. He feels confident that he has 

 successfully diagnosed intestinal obstruction of such a 

 nature, and in such a position, as to render surgical 

 interference reasonably warrantable. 



Should operative measures be advised early on in 

 the case ? Should expectant treatment be first adopted, 

 and the operation be only advised as a dernier ressort ? 

 If the first is decided on the patient may die from the 

 efTects of the operation, and the owner be accordingly 

 annoyed. Adopting the latter procedure, the patient, in 

 a state of rapid collapse, will not oflfer great possibilities 

 of the operation being successful. 



Thinking so, the veterinarian has been apt to let 

 matters rest, and it was not until 1895 that Professor 

 Macqueen, of the Royal Veterinary College, put the 

 matter upon a more satisfactory basis. This gentleman's 

 experiences, coupled with his exhaustive searches into 

 veterinary literature, led him to the belief that penetra- 

 tion of the equine peritoneal cavity was not so highly 

 dangerous after all, and that operations involving that 

 step were quite safely within the bounds of possibility. 



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