246 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



any peculiar symptoms, urinary secretion simply slackening up in 

 response to the damming up that occurs, or if the obstructing mem- 

 brane be thin enough the urine may ooze through by pressure. 

 After a while the animal manifests uneasiness and the abdomen is 

 observed to be enlarged. Upon manipulation the distended bladder 

 can be made out. 



Treatment. Simple puncture of the membrane suffices, the 

 subsequent flow of urine serving to keep the channel open. 



TRATHVIATIO LESIONS. 



Wounds. Traumatic exposure of the urethral lumen sometimes 

 occurs as a complication of a wound of the neighboring tissues. 

 Mosse treated one inflicted by a knife in the hands of a miscreant. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. A break in the continuity of the 

 canal is recognized by a flow of urine through the wound. 



Treatment. In extensive wounds the urethra should be su- 

 tured with fine catgut and the neighboring parts cleansed and freely 

 drained. Minor wounds may be allowed to heal by granulation. 

 Healing is usually uncomplicated and quick to follow. 



STRICTURE. 



Cicatricial contraction may follow wounds of the wall caused 

 by lodgment of calculi or surgical interference to remedy this con- 

 dition. Siedamgrotzky attributed a case of stricture to extreme 

 torsion during coitus. A rather rare condition is the formation of 

 small exostoses on the penial bone, which, by encroaching on the 

 urethra, produce the effect of stricture. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. Difficult or suspended urination 

 accompanied by pain call for examination by passage of the sound, 

 when a differential diagnosis between this and obstruction by cal- 

 culi or prostatic enlargement can be arrived at. In using the sound 

 the normal decrease in caliber at the level of the posterior extremity 

 of the penial bone must be taken into account. 



Treatment. This condition can be considerably relieved by 

 passing a sound. or catheter every two or three days for a period 

 of some weeks and allowing the instrument to remain within the 

 canal for a few minutes. 



