98 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



part of the tube. Obstructions usually consist of bones, gristle, 

 large pieces of fat, fragments of tendon, skewers, etc. Large bodies 

 remaining in position for any length of time are very liable to pro- 

 duce local pressure gangrene and perforation. Sharp bodies may 

 also perforate at the outset. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. The animal refuses food or mani- 

 fests pain in the act of swallowing. There are spells of gulping and 

 choking with vomiting, salivation, scratching at the neck, the head 

 held extended, difficult respiration, and frequent outcries of pain. 

 The seat of obstruction, when it exists in the cervical region, is evi- 

 dent from painful swelling of the neighboring parts artd this be- 

 comes intensified the longer the object remains. Such swelling may 

 interfere with the natural gait of the fore-legs through the edema 

 involving the shoulder muscles. Sometimes the body may be recog- 

 nized by palpation. In the thoracic portion the symptoms may be 

 obscure, there being absence of swelling and at times merely refusal 

 of food with rapid emaciation. 



Treatment. Obstructions are removed by production of emesis, 

 by extraction with throat forceps, by propulsion with the probang, or 

 by esophagotomy or gastrotomy, according as the conditions present 

 warrant the application of either method of relief. Vomiting will 

 often displace a foreign body. It is best brought about by hypo- 

 dermic administration of apomorphia in doses of 1-40 to i-io of a 

 grain. If the object is situated in an accessible position an attempt 

 should be made to grasp and extract it with the curved throat for- 

 ceps, after the jaws have been immobilized with a speculum. Fail- 

 ing in this and in cases where the object is beyond reach with the 

 forceps, the probang must be resorted to in order to push the body 

 on into the stomach. To pass this instrument the tongue is de- 

 pressed with the fingers of the left hand and the instrument, pre- 

 viously oiled, is made to pass into the median line and follow the 

 posterior wall of the pharynx into the esophagus. The bristle pro- 

 bang is a very convenient instrument, as it may be used for push- 

 ing obstructions into the stomach or equally as well for extracting 

 them by the mouth, when they do not entirely occlude the lumen. It 

 is closed and passed until the bristles are well beyond the point of 

 lodgment, when they by pressure upon the whalebone, are projected, 

 completely filling the tube, umbrella-like, and the probang is with- 

 drawn. In the absence of this, or any other special make of pi-o- 



