348 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



one and one-half ccm. in length, and transplanted in its place a 

 piece of the same size and sewed both periosteums together. The 

 result was good. 



All absorbable porous materials placed in bone cavities which 

 create favorable conditions for healing do so by virtue of compres- 

 sion, occlusion, and diminishing wound secretion. Instead of sup- 

 plying artificial means to this end, Schede advocated the natural 

 method of allowing the cavity to fill with an aseptic moist blood- 

 clot. The principle of this method is that coagula between sur- 

 faces of aseptic wounds do not undergo putrefactive or degenera- 

 tive changes, but become supplied with bloodvessels and are organ- 

 ized. The technic is as follows : Apply a tourniquet on the proximal 

 side, remove all diseased bone, disinfect the cavity thoroughly, su- 

 ture the soft parts, and remove the tourniquet. The cavity fills 

 with blood. Protect the wound with a layer of oiled silk, which 

 secures at the surface the formation of a moist blood clot. This is 

 an important point. Small cavities heal in from twelve to fourteen 

 days, while large cavities require from three to six weeks. The 

 cavity must be allowed to fill completely or the balance closes by the 

 usual tedious process of granulation. Neuber modifies this method 

 by filling the cavity with iodoform with which the blood mixes, and 

 thus lessens the chances of sepsis. 



OSTEOTOMY. 



This operation — the division of a bone — is sometimes necessary 

 to straighten a leg, one or more bones of which having sustained a 

 fracture have reunited in abnormal alignment. Complete anesthesia 

 is necessary and the parts should be rested on a sandbag to give 

 necessary support. A free incision is made down to the bone at the 

 site of the callus, on the outer side, and an osteotome (beveled on 

 both sides) introduced parallel to the long axis of the bone and then 

 turned across, or at a right angle to it. With repeated strokes with 

 a mallet it is made to penetrate the dense bone for two-thirds of 

 its thickness, but this must be done with due caution to check any 

 undue impetus on the part of the osteotome. The rest of the bone 

 can be "snapped" with a little manual force. But, if difficulty is 

 experienced in doing this, it means that the chisel must be used a 

 little more. The two extremities are then approximated so as to 

 bring them into alignment and a suitable splint applied, a window 



