CcBsarian Section 671 



De Bruin records 23 hysterotomies in the sow, with 1 1 re- 

 coveries and 12 deaths, or a loss of 60%, but he accepted all 

 cases of dystokia which were offered and which it seemed impos- 

 sible to deliver in any other way. Among these were several 

 sows which were already comatose and virtually dying when 

 presented. He concludes that, when the fetuses have become 

 emphysematous, the sow has a high temperature accompanied 

 by loss of appetite with no milk in the teats, or is in a comatose 

 condition, the operation will most probably be followed by 

 death. He submits also that, according to the statistics of the 

 cases which he publishes, the results are very favorable if the 

 patient has not been manipulated prior to the operation, and 

 there is no extensive necrosis of the vaginal walls as a result of, 

 the forcible extraction of one or more fetuses or attempts at that 

 operation by laymen. De Bruin regards the operation as highly 

 successful in those cases where no manipulation of the genital 

 tract has been made, except by the veterinarian, under proper 

 precautions, for purposes of diagnosis, and where labor has not 

 continued for more than 24 hours. 



Kasselman (D. T. W., 1899) operated on 25 sows, with recov- 

 eries in 19 cases. In his statistics, all those cases in which the 

 fetuses were putrid perished. 



So far as we can determine by the available literature, the op- 

 eration is somewhat less favorable in the cat. In our clinic, in 

 two cases, one of the cats died, but the fetuses were saved in each 

 instance. 



Hysterotomy in the sheep and goat has not been largely prac- 

 ticed, so far as indicated by our literature, although a few suc- 

 cessful operations have been chronicled. 



It has been clearly shown in the cow that, if the fetus is alive, 

 Caesarian section is highly favorable for preserving the life of the 

 calf. Its attachments to the maternal placenta are of such a char- 

 acter that it is very easy to perform hysterotomy and preserve 

 the life of the fetus if it is in good, vigorous condition at the 

 beginning of the operation. 



Little is known regarding the percentage of recoveries of the 

 cow, although there are isolated records where recovery has oc- 

 curred . Franck places the loss in cows at 65 % . This appears 

 to be a very great loss, and suggests that perhaps many of the 

 cases were in a very serious condition before the operation was 



