830 Veterinary Obstetrics 



of an inversion of the horn, and the irritation causes a continua- 

 tion of the displacement until the prolapse results. 



Parturient paresis acts as a distinct and not very rare cause of 

 prolapse of the uterus. Apparently this cause has been over- 

 looked by many veterinary obstetrists. In these instances we 

 have the ordinary symptoms of parturient paresis, such as coma, 

 coupled with a sub-normal temperature, and a general state of 

 unconsciousness in the recumbent animal. In the cases which 

 we have observed, three in all, we could not determine from their 

 history whether the ordinary symptoms of paresis occurred first 

 or the prolapse was the initial S3'-mptom. Naturally, when 

 uterine prolapse complicates parturient paresis the animal is 

 found in recumbency, usually lying prone upon her side. This 

 induces tympany, by which the paresis is complicated and the 

 replacement of the prolapsed organ is prevented. 



Handling. In all cases of dystokia, the obstetrist should ex- 

 amine the uterus after the extraction of the fetus, in order to 

 determine if the organ has assumed its proper position and rela- 

 tions, and especially to determine if any inversion of the organ 

 has begun. If such beginning inversion is present, as has re- 

 peatedly been observed by the writer, the obstetrist should reduce 

 the intussusception at once, by applying pressure upon the ad- 

 vancing portion of the organ, either with the clenched fist or with . 

 the ventral surface of the fingers of the open hand, taking care 

 at all times not to wound or otherwise injure the organ. After 

 the replacement of the organ, unless there are reasons to the con- 

 trary, such as a rupture of the uterus, the obstetrist should inject 

 into the uterine cavity a large volume of normal salt solution or 

 a very weak disinfecting solution, by which means the uterus is 

 cleansed from any irritants which may be present. The expul- 

 sion of the liquids also causes energetic contractions of the mu-s- 

 cular walls of the organ, which lead to a prompt and normal in- 

 volution, after which the danger from prolapse is usually, if not 

 always, eliminated. The same rules should be applied when the 

 veterinarian is called to attend an animal because of retention 

 of the fetal envelopes, and great care should be taken not to leave 

 the organ partly everted after the removal of the membranes. 



In these cases, the position of the patient is not highly essen- 

 tial ; but it is very desirable that she should be in the standing 

 position, with the hind parts higher than the fore parts. 



