434 
DEPARTMENT OF SURGERY. 
proximation with a resection of but a small portion of the in¬ 
testine ; but, when a large portion is resected it is necessary to 
also resect part of the mesentery attached to the part removed, 
and by doing this the danger of primary, complementary and 
secondary haemorrhage is increased, and great care should be 
taken to avoid this by carefully ligating all arteries, which if not 
properly done may necessitate a reopening of the cavity to 
check avoidable haemorrhage resulting from such carelessness. 
A consecutive haemorrhage following any intestinal operation is 
generally an alarming condition ; it usually begins after the 
sdrgeou is gone, and in many cases the change in the appear¬ 
ance of the patient is not noticed by the attendant before it 
has greatly depleted it, and before the surgeon can be informed 
of the condition and return to the patient, it is often too late ; 
the patient is either dead or too weak to withstand additional 
shock resulting from the reopening and exploration of the ca¬ 
vity and generally dies during the procedure if attempted under 
these circumstances. 
In a resection of the intestine it is necessary to be conserva¬ 
tive ; and yet, no part that is badly injured and likely to retard 
or prevent a speedy recovery, or subsequently impair the health 
of the animal, should be left intact; or, if any part of it is af¬ 
fected by an invasive pathological condition or growth, all of it 
that was, is, or may be damaged by such an aggressive invasion, 
should be resected. In intestinal surgery no reliance should be 
placed in doubtful reorganization of tissues ; if there is the 
slightest suspicion that the injured tissue cannot be made asep¬ 
tic, or that it may become necrotic from lack of blood supply, 
it must in every case be .removed before any attempt is made 
to repair the injury ; and pathological conditions should be 
treated in the same manner. 
Ope 7 r ation .—The patient must be secured, anaesthetized and 
the abdomen opened as in all intestinal operations. The cavity 
is then carefully explored, the existing condition ascertained, 
and the surgical course judiciously adopted. The part of the 
intestine injured or diseased is resected, together with the me¬ 
sentery attached to it ; haemorrhage must be carefully looked 
after, the arteries should be ligated as near to the large trunk 
whence they originated as possible, and when all haemorrhage 
is arrested, the ends are then approximated. If the ends are of 
the same size, the procedure is very simple, but if one end is 
larger than the other, the larger should be reduced to the size 
of the smaller, by making a longitudinal incision (Fig. 14 -A-c) 
