GASEOUS COLICS: FLATULENT COLIC. 



179 



Treatment. The treatment is as inefficient as that of colics 

 through constriction of the intestine. In cases of dilatation and 

 paralysis of the rectum the principal indication is to empty this 

 bowel from time to time with the hand. A radical cure cannot.be 

 obtained. 



Gaseous Colics : Flatulent Colic. 



Etiology. Gaseous colics are generally due to the ingestion of 

 especially fermentable food, which subject has been treated in the 

 article upon General Colics. They are also quite frequently ob- 

 served in horses that have the habit of wind-sucking, or deglutition 

 of air. According to Haubner and Siedamgrotzky, they are some- 

 times produced when the animals are driven at a sharp gait against 

 the wind. 



The gases which predominate in the bowels are carburetted 

 hydrogen and carbonic acid. An analysis by Pinner^ gives them 

 as in the proportion of 49 per cent, of carburetted hydrogen, 8 per 

 cent, of carbonic acid, and 42 per cent, of nitrogen. He has also 

 demonstrated the presence of sulphuretted and of phosphoretted 

 hydrogen gas. 



Symptoms. The rapid swelling of the belly constitutes the 

 characteristic symptom of these colics. The abdominal walls are 

 distended ; percussion of the flank renders a very clear tympanic 

 sound, sometimes metallic. In auscultation, we hear loud bor- 

 borygmi. With the increase of swelling, dyspnœa occurs, also 

 anxiety and restlessness ; the mucous membranes are of a dark- 

 bluish or red shade, the jugulars swell up, the heart- beats become 

 tumultuous, the walk is painful, and the animals stagger in their 

 hind quarters. Cure is indicated by the expulsion of considerable 

 quantities of intestinal gas, and by a lessening of the tympanites. 

 Death may occur, either through excessive pulmonary compression 

 or oedema, or through carbonic intoxication, through apoplexy, or, 

 lastly, through rupture of the stomach or intestine. 



Diagnosis. This is quite easy. The tympanites which is some- 

 times observed during the course of other colics (thrombo-embolic, 

 or from occlusion, etc.) is distinguished from that of gaseous colics 

 by its slow appearance, its progressive development, and its long 

 duration. 



Treatment. Puncture of the csscum, to be made at the right 



* Pinner : Archiv f. Thierheilkde., Bd. i. 



