Cause: laceration of parietal peritoneum by tearing through the
spermatic artery, a loop of intestine is strangulated in the resulting
pouch. Diagnosis: patient is a steer castrated by the method named,
rectal exploration confirms. Treatment: turn on back, jump from a
height, trot down hill, dislodge incarcerated mass by hand in rectum,
pass cannula through rectum, introduce probpointed bistoury and cut
through the band, or laparotomy. Second Form: adhesion of stump of
spermatic cord to intestine, or abdominal wall or formation of a
pediculated tumor, and resulting strangulation of intestine. Third
Form: weight of testicles tears the peritoneum from the abdominal wall
forming pouch. Treatment: laparotomy.
_Causes._ This is a peculiar affection said to be connected with a
faulty mode of castration in calves. When the testicle has been exposed,
the spermatic cord is torn through by sheer force, or the posterior
portion having been cut across the anterior division is dragged upon
violently until torn apart. The gelders usually estimate the quality of
the operation by the length of the artery which can be torn out. The
artery which is the most resistant portion of the cord and the last to
give way takes its origin from the posterior aorta opposite the
posterior mesenteric artery, extends outward by a curvilinear course
just in front of the brim of the pelvis, and when stretched violently it
is straightened out and carries with it the peritoneum, tearing it from
the portion immediately in front and forming a sac, or tearing it
completely apart from the abdominal wall in its median part and leaving
it attached above and below. Into this sac, or above this band, which is
just below the sacral transverse processes, a loop of intestine may
pass, and becoming strangled there, produces all the symptoms of
intestinal obstruction.
_Diagnosis_ is helped by the fact that the animal is a steer, and in a
locality where the above-named mode of castration is in vogue. It is
completed by feeling the imprisoned intestine and the constricting cord
just under the right or left transverse processes of the sacrum.
_Treatment._ The gut will sometimes escape from the sac if the animal is
turned quickly on its back. Another method is to invoke the influence of
gravitation by jumping the animal from a high step down to a lower
level, or by trotting him down a steep incline. A still more effective
method is to introduce the hand into the rectum and press the palm
upward and forward against the soft mass of the imprisoned intestine. In
this way the gaseous, liquid and solid contents are passed over into the
portion of the gut in front of the constriction, and by continuing the
process the intestine itself can usually be pressed out and the
suffering relieved. It is further suggested to press the thumb or the
whole hand forward against the constricting band and tear it in two. A
certain amount of to and fro movement is usually required and in
exceptional cases the cord is so strong that the measure has to be
abandoned.
Another resort is to pass a cannula and trochar through the adjacent
part of the rectum, and withdrawing the trochar, to pass a probpointed
bistoury through the cannula, and beneath the cord and cut it in two.
These measures failing an incision must be made in the right flank,
following the line of the fibres of the external oblique, and the hand
being introduced and passed round the posterior border of the omentum
the seat of the disease is found and the constricting cord is cut with a
probpointed bistoury or a bistouri caché. The wound is then sutured,
disinfected and covered with antiseptic gauze or cotton and bandage. The
sounds of peristalsis are resumed and in five or six hours defecation is
restored.
=2nd Form.= Another alleged condition vouched for by English and
continental veterinarians depends on drawing down the spermatic cord as
far as possible, cutting it off and allowing it to be retracted into the
abdomen. Having been detached by the traction from the abdominal wall it
is alleged to float free, sometimes establishing an adhesion to one of
the intestines of which it later limits the movements; sometimes forming
a connection with the abdominal wall and forming a sling in which the
intestines may be snared, and sometimes swelling at its free end to form
a pedunculated tumor, and winding around a loop of intestine so as to
strangle it. For these conditions incision of the abdominal wall and
section of the offending cord are recommended.
=3rd Form.= Lobbe tells us that the disease is common in bulls as well
as oxen in mountainous regions, being determined by violent exertions,
or by the struggle to rise, when the animal has accidently fallen. In
this alleged form there is the suggestion of the heavy pendent testicles
as factors in detaching the cord with its vessels and nerves from the
abdominal wall, so as to form a loop or snare for the intestine.