CHAPTER XX 



DISPLACEMENTS OF THE DOUBLE 

 COLON — Continued 



B. Flexion 



Definition. — Save for one instance ^ I can find no 

 reference to this condition in English veterinary litera- 

 ture. It is important, however, to give it consideration, 

 if only in a brief chapter ; for it is a form of intestinal 

 displacement, the recognition of which serves to throw 

 light on what would otherwise be instances of death from 

 obscure cause's in cases of equine colic. The French 

 express it by the word ' coudure,' and the most suitable 

 equivalent that comes to my mind is the term ^flexion.' 

 By this I wish to indicate a 'permanent bend' of some 

 portion of the bowel. It is entirely distinct from torsion 

 or twist, and can best be described diagrammatically as 

 in Fig. 27. 



The dark lines indicating the bowel walls show a 

 flexion or bend at B, while the dotted lines mark the 

 course the bowel should normally take. We know, of 



1 Smith, in his article on ' Some Fatal Diseases of the Digestive 

 Canal of the Horse,' discussed before the Fifth General Meeting of 

 the National Veterinary Association in 1887 gives it mention. — 

 H. C. R. 



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