There are a few men who stand out rather conspicuously as veterinary surgeons and there are a few teachers in the various veterinary col leges who profess to be endowed with a su perior variety of surgical skill but still it cannot be said that the ranks are richly embellished with real surgeons.
Although many of the domestic animals un dergo necessary surgical operations the horse has furnished by far the largest field for the development and application of veterinary sur gery because up to the beginning of the 20th century all agricultural pursuits and the local transportation of people, manufactured articles and farm products were done by mcans of horses. This necessitated great numbers of horses in every occupation. the tractor and the automobile have made such enormous inroads into our commercial and agricultural transactions that the work for the horse has all but gone, and consequently the horse has disappeared in great numbers from the cities and farms, thus very greatly diminishing the opportunities and the field for the practice of veterinary sur titerY in the future. Nevertheless, a high degree of skill has been attained in the application of veterinary surgery when judged by the various operations that may he per formed upon the horse for the restoration of his usefulness. .In surgical practice the indications and contra-Indications for operation must be carefully studied. Except in case of urgent operations like tracheotomy for threatening suffocation, operation for strangulated hernia, removal of a foreign body, arrest of severe hemorrhage, dressing of a wound, etc., it is first necessary carefully to consider whether the animal's value, its chanc.e of perfect recov ery and the probable duration of its convales cence justify operation at all. When surgical treatment can only have a temporary good effect and the disease is likely to return, when im provement is only to be obtained by sacrificing the animal's usefulness, or when the patient is old or its strength is too greatly reduced the operation should not be performed except on the insistence of the owner.
Surgical Procedure.— This includes (1) the restraint of the animal; (2) atuesthesia; (3) obtaining surgical cleanliness, and (4) the dressing and care of wounds. Restraint.— Efficient restraint is a. prerequisite to good animal. surgery. Operation, or even local ex amination, is often impossible without recourse to methods of restraint of which an exceedingly numerous choice is available. Each species of the domestic animals is endowed with one or more means or weapons of defense. These must be reckoned with and overcome by effectual means. The animal must be rendered harmless and at the same time the operative area must be made immovable and secure. Surgical restraint method.s begin with subjection by means of blinds, twitches, gags, war bridles and barnacles. 'These appliances are used to divert the animars attention while injuries, diseased areas or wounds are being examined, operated or dressed. They are also used while the hobbles or casting harnesses are being applied. The method of restraint used depends upon the size and strength of the patient, the part to be operated upon and the operation to be per formed. Large animals are cast and secured
in the r9cumbent position by means of har nesses with hobbles and ropes for serious op eration and preparatory to adntinistering an anwsthetic. Veterinary colleges and veterinary hospitals are usually equipped with stocks and operating tables where large animals may be securely conhned for operation in the standing or in the recumbent position as desired. The smaller animals (sheep, swine, dogs and cats) are restrained for operation by tying all four limbs together or by securing them to an im provised operating table. If not too large and strong they may be held firmly by a powerful assistant.
Ancrsthesia.—According to its nature and extent anesthesia may be general or local. In general anmsthesia the patient is thrown into a more or less profound artificial sleep. It is not always necessary, however, to act on the entire individual. Sometimes the operation af fects only a very limited area and local antes thesia suffices. Local antesthesia may be pro duced by the application of ice or freezing mix tures, by spraying the part with certain liquids lilce ether or ethyl chloride, or by the subcutan eous injection of a solution of cocaine, eucaine, stovaine, quinine and urea hydrochloride or pro caine. Anvsthetics are quite as useful in animals as in man, and few important operations are performed on veterinary patients with out anmsthesia, either local or general. For most minor operations the methods of restraint are sufficient, but certain operations cannot be well performed without general anmsthesia. In reduc tion of hernia, delivery in cases of dystocia, in laparotomy and in all cases where one works in dangerous proximity to important organs, the animal's struggles render general anwsthesia indispensable. It is also necessary for delicate operations on or near the eye, and for all serious operations on horses. In ruminants, anwsthetics are seldom used except in case of difficult parturition because the ruminant does not with stand anmsthesia well. In carnivora, especially the dog, its principal indications are in lapa rotomy, dystocia, amputation and certain op erations on the head. General anmsthesia is the result of a special action exerted directly on nerve centres by the anvsthetic agent. General anmsthetics may be administered by the respira tory tract through inhalation of their vapors or by injection intravenously or subcutaneously or by administration through the mouth and digestive tract. Anmsthetics adininistered by the respiratory tract produce a series of phenomena in the following order : (1) A period of ex citation; (2) a period of anasthesia, or surgi cal period; (3) a period of collapse or intoxi cation. For horses, the best anaesthetic is chloro form inhaled. For cattle chloral hydrate, whisky, brandy or rtun administered by the mouth is the best. For sheep, goats and swine chloro form is best, and for dogs and cats morphine injected subcutaneously followed by inhalations of a mixture of ether and chloroform should be used.