34 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



The commonest provocative factors are suppurative conditions 

 following traumatic or unclean surgical wounds, retention of fetal 

 tissues, intestinal lesions, and omphalo-phlebitis in young subjects. 

 In some cases the origin is obscure. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. Differential diagnosis is difficult. 

 The chief symptoms are high intermittent fever with rigor, complete 

 anorexia, diarrhea, albuminuria, feeble cardiac action, vomiting, and 

 great prostration. In pyemia, the secretion from the initial wound, 

 is, as a rule, scanty but greyish or bloody. Symptoms of metastatic 

 abscess formation are sometimes evident. Recovery from pyemia is 

 rare. In young subjects, where the disease follows omphalo-phleb- 

 itis, it is common for suppurative foci to develop in superficial parts 

 of the body, and these cases usually respond favorably to proper 

 treatment. 



Treatment. Treatment must be prophylactic rather than cura- 

 tive, i. e., any possible further contamination of the blood stream 

 must be prevented. Deep suppurative and gangrenous foci must be 

 thoroughly drained and cleansed, and if necessary, amputation re- 

 sorted to. Superficial metastatic abscesses must be freely opened. 

 Constitutional treatment should be directed toward supporting the 

 strength with stimulants, but drugs are of little avail. Antistrepto- 

 coccic serum is worthy of a trial. 



GANGRENE. 



By gangrene is meant the mortification of tissue in bulk as 

 distinguished from ulceration or molecular death of a part. Gan- 

 grene can occur with or without the presence of bacteria, the essen- 

 tial cause being the cutting off of the blood supply. Interference 

 with local nutrition may result from crushing, the action of chemi- 

 cals, bums, frost-bites, embolism, tight bandages, strangulated her- 

 nia, paraphimosis, and the products of specific microorganisms. A 

 few instances are on record of infection by the bacillus of malignant 

 edema which usually terminated fatally. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. Gangrenous tissue is recognized by 

 its coldness, change of color, loss of sensation, and inability of the 

 part to perform its function. Where the disease process has ceased 

 to spread, there develops a so-called line of demarcation, which is 

 a zone of inflammation and actively proliferating repair tissue. 



