Purulent Infection of the Navel 1005 



I. Purulent Infection of the Navel. Omphalitis. 

 Omphalo-phlebitis. Pyo-septh^mia. 



Purulent infection of the navel is greatly favored by many of 

 the circumstances attending the birth of the young animal. 

 When it is born in a stable or barnyard, or in surroundings where 

 filth and dirt are abundant and omnipresent, there is constant 

 exposure to infection of the new-made wound. Whenever the 

 animal lies down, especially in sternal recumbency, the new-made 

 wound comes in direct contact with infected bedding, decompo- 

 sing feces or urine, or with other filth which may chance to ex- 

 ist at such a point . 



The carnivorous, and to a lesser degree the herbivorous mother 

 habitually cleanses the broken cord by licking, and thereby with- 

 draws from it a large part of the Whartonian gelatine, thus 

 favoring the early dessication of the stump. It appears that, in 

 spite of the fact that the mouth usually abounds in pathogenic 

 bacteria, the process of licking the navel is, according to clinical 

 observations, comparatively safe and tends to protect the navel 

 against infection. We observe infection of the navel most fre- 

 quently in the foal, whose mother pays less attention to the 

 navel than do other domestic animals. 



Purulent infection of the navel very frequently arises, also, as 

 an indirect result of ligating the umbilic cord. The danger from 

 ligating the cord consists usually of two principal elements — the 

 infection of the wound by careless ligation, and the providing of 

 a breeding ground for bacteria by the inclusion of the Whar- 

 tonian gelatine. 



From a surgical standpoint, nothing can well be more danger- 

 ous to the new-born animal than the careless or filthy ligation of 

 the umbilic cord by a layman or a veterinarian with dirty, in- 

 fected hands and an unclean ligature. Most ligatures applied to 

 the navel are placed there by laymen, who are ignorant of the 

 fundamental rules and practices of surgery, and consequently 

 pick up almost any kind of ligature, which they apply without 

 disinfection or sterilization, and usually without disinfecting or 

 even washing their hands. They thus bear directly to the cord 

 abundant infection of a dangerous character. 



Even when a ligature is applied to the navel under some of 

 the rules of modern surgery, other important ones are habitually 



