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Urethral Calculus
IIO
The Veterinary Journal.
prevent any member from becoming an examiner of risks and acting in the capacity of an expert for the same. Section 8.-Each member shall observe the code of ethics adopted by this association and be answerable to the Executive Board for any breach of the same.
URETHRAL CALCULUS. I RECEIVED a call about 10.30 one night to see a horse very sick with " colic." On my arrival I found a r,soo-pound horse showing symptoms of abdominal pain. This horse was used for light truck work, but as this was Sunday he had made an eight-mile trip to the country, going in the morning and returning that evening, when it was found he refused feed and water. An ·examination for bowel trouble showed that, if such were the case, it had not reached a stage to cause alarm. Aside from bowel symptoms, there were other very noticeable signs, as violent straining, with protrusion of the penis and dribbling of a few drops of urine. I was told by the attendants that a few weeks previously he had shown some trouble voiding urine, but that after cleaning his sheath this disappeared. On rectal examination the rectum was empty, but I immediately noticed the greatly distended bladder, which, when palpated, caused the animal much pain. Examination of the urethra, so far as was possible in .a heavily muscled horse, revealed nothing. On passing the catheter, a hard object was found obstructing the urethra, abo1,1t seven inches below the arch of the ischium. A calculus was at once suspected, and the horse was taken to the hospital and prepared for urethrotomy, which was carried out as follows :With the subject confined in the stocks and the use of a twitch and a local anesthetic, sufficient restraint wa,; provided. After careful antiseptic precaution, the assistant passed the catheter and held it against the obstruction. A two-inch incision was made directly over the ·obstruction, which was now easily palpated. The incision was carried on down through the connective tissue and muscles through the urethral wall until the removal of a calculus was effected and the immense quantity of urine was allowed to escape. Drainage was then provided by making the lower teunination of the incision, so that the skin incision extended a n inch below the opening m the urethra. It was then closed witlr four interrupted sutures. Attention is called to this case for three reasons : I. Because it is a case not seen every day . 2 . The operation was performed with the subject standing.
Urethral Calculus .
III
3· It shows how acceptance of the owner's diagnosis or a hasty, careless examination might have been the ca use of embarrassment later. Five weeks la.ter I was called again to see the same horse, and again found a calculus that had passed the location of the. first one, so that it had to be removed through an incision in the body of the penis. This calculus was as large, if not larger, than the first, thus showing tha t the first operation caused no stricture. The horse is now making a nice recovery. I might add that in both instances rectal examinations were negative. The question arises, " How long does it take for a urethral calculus to develop? ''-A DocTOR in the A. ]. V. M.
\translations. ON THE TREATMENT OF LYMPHANGITIS IN THE HORSE. BY VETERINARY MAJ OR
CHAUSSE,
Of the Heavy Al'tillery Regiment.
THE R .G. of October 15 published a very interesting article by Messieurs Haan and Auger on prevalent affections among our effectives during this war. Their rapid extension and spread, as these authors remark, makes it appear certain that quite a number of veterinary surgeons had ·never met with epizootic and ulcerous lymphangitis before I9I4· My intention in publishing these lines is not to disclose or lay claim to any infallible treatment, but to describe a process which I used at Maroc in 1913, and which up to now has given me every satisfaction in localising lesions on a subject affected. Messieurs Haan and Auger declared in their article that" whatever the drug used by them, they have obtained better results by cauterisation," and they cite the example of Charmoy, who simply surrounds the lesions with a double rank of puncture fire-points, followed by blistering. The process I adopted is on the same lines, but whereas Charmoy puncture fires, I line fir e in the following manner : r. After having widely clipped the affected region, cauterise the . lymphangitic nodes first with a point firing iron, and then with a budding iron. 2. Fix the limit of the cord above and below the nodes (even if the region is other than that of the members) by a very deep firing line with section of the skin. I consider this method is equivalent to the surgical intervention which extirpates the cord, but it does not offer the same inconveniences, deep and extensive sloughing ; production
The Veterinary Journal.
prevent any member from becoming an examiner of risks and acting in the capacity of an expert for the same. Section 8.-Each member shall observe the code of ethics adopted by this association and be answerable to the Executive Board for any breach of the same.
URETHRAL CALCULUS. I RECEIVED a call about 10.30 one night to see a horse very sick with " colic." On my arrival I found a r,soo-pound horse showing symptoms of abdominal pain. This horse was used for light truck work, but as this was Sunday he had made an eight-mile trip to the country, going in the morning and returning that evening, when it was found he refused feed and water. An ·examination for bowel trouble showed that, if such were the case, it had not reached a stage to cause alarm. Aside from bowel symptoms, there were other very noticeable signs, as violent straining, with protrusion of the penis and dribbling of a few drops of urine. I was told by the attendants that a few weeks previously he had shown some trouble voiding urine, but that after cleaning his sheath this disappeared. On rectal examination the rectum was empty, but I immediately noticed the greatly distended bladder, which, when palpated, caused the animal much pain. Examination of the urethra, so far as was possible in .a heavily muscled horse, revealed nothing. On passing the catheter, a hard object was found obstructing the urethra, abo1,1t seven inches below the arch of the ischium. A calculus was at once suspected, and the horse was taken to the hospital and prepared for urethrotomy, which was carried out as follows :With the subject confined in the stocks and the use of a twitch and a local anesthetic, sufficient restraint wa,; provided. After careful antiseptic precaution, the assistant passed the catheter and held it against the obstruction. A two-inch incision was made directly over the ·obstruction, which was now easily palpated. The incision was carried on down through the connective tissue and muscles through the urethral wall until the removal of a calculus was effected and the immense quantity of urine was allowed to escape. Drainage was then provided by making the lower teunination of the incision, so that the skin incision extended a n inch below the opening m the urethra. It was then closed witlr four interrupted sutures. Attention is called to this case for three reasons : I. Because it is a case not seen every day . 2 . The operation was performed with the subject standing.
Urethral Calculus .
III
3· It shows how acceptance of the owner's diagnosis or a hasty, careless examination might have been the ca use of embarrassment later. Five weeks la.ter I was called again to see the same horse, and again found a calculus that had passed the location of the. first one, so that it had to be removed through an incision in the body of the penis. This calculus was as large, if not larger, than the first, thus showing tha t the first operation caused no stricture. The horse is now making a nice recovery. I might add that in both instances rectal examinations were negative. The question arises, " How long does it take for a urethral calculus to develop? ''-A DocTOR in the A. ]. V. M.
\translations. ON THE TREATMENT OF LYMPHANGITIS IN THE HORSE. BY VETERINARY MAJ OR
CHAUSSE,
Of the Heavy Al'tillery Regiment.
THE R .G. of October 15 published a very interesting article by Messieurs Haan and Auger on prevalent affections among our effectives during this war. Their rapid extension and spread, as these authors remark, makes it appear certain that quite a number of veterinary surgeons had ·never met with epizootic and ulcerous lymphangitis before I9I4· My intention in publishing these lines is not to disclose or lay claim to any infallible treatment, but to describe a process which I used at Maroc in 1913, and which up to now has given me every satisfaction in localising lesions on a subject affected. Messieurs Haan and Auger declared in their article that" whatever the drug used by them, they have obtained better results by cauterisation," and they cite the example of Charmoy, who simply surrounds the lesions with a double rank of puncture fire-points, followed by blistering. The process I adopted is on the same lines, but whereas Charmoy puncture fires, I line fir e in the following manner : r. After having widely clipped the affected region, cauterise the . lymphangitic nodes first with a point firing iron, and then with a budding iron. 2. Fix the limit of the cord above and below the nodes (even if the region is other than that of the members) by a very deep firing line with section of the skin. I consider this method is equivalent to the surgical intervention which extirpates the cord, but it does not offer the same inconveniences, deep and extensive sloughing ; production