432 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
After-treatment .—The after-treatment may vary to certain 
degree, upon the efficiency of the pre-requisite course of treat¬ 
ment. The first step to be taken is to adopt means of keeping 
the patient absolutely quiet ; the peristalsis must be arrested; 
flatulence prevented, and pain relieved. No food should be 
given for the first two or three days excepting per rectum; 
water may be given in small quantities and often, i. e., the 
amount should not exceed that which can be absorbed in the 
stomach ; liquid food can be given after the second or third 
day and small quantities cf easily digested food after the fifth 
or sixth day. The symptoms and complications which may 
arise in the course must be handled according to indications ; 
internal haemorrhage must be arrested ; symptoms of sepsis 
checked ; and a slow deferred reaction of shock should receive 
careful attention. The incision into the abdomen can be treated 
as in celiotomy. 
In human surgery a lateral anastomosis of the intestine is 
made by using two decalcified bone plates (Fig. 13 a—b\ one of 
which is placed in the lumen of the first division and the other 
in the lumen of the other division, after the incision has been 
made at the point selected ; the needles of each are passed 
through the wall of each division but not ligated until the 
edges of the surgical wound have been sutured. When the 
plates are placed in position, and the edges of the wound su¬ 
tured, the plates are ligated and the needles removed. A series 
of sero-serous stitches may be added along the line marked by 
the circumference of the plates. These plates are absorbed, and 
even their location becomes latescent. 
This method is not practical for the veterinarian ; he could 
not be expected to keep an assortment of these plates varying 
in size from those adapted for the cat to those required for 
larger animals. 
There is another method that would be more practical in 
domestic animals than the one iust mentioned. It is a method 
v 
in which only one decalcified bone plate is used (Fig. 13-c). 
The plate is placed over the incision between the serous coats 
of the two divisions of the intestine to be connected. The 
edges of the surgical wound are sutured by a continuous stitch 
which is passed through one edge of the wound through a hole 
in the plate and through the other edge, then back to the first 
edge to a point opposite the next hole in the plate and passed 
through the edge, hole and other edge; this is repeated until 
the first hole is reached, but in the last fourth of the circum- 
