Animal CastrationLiautard, Alexandre François Augustin
Science
Animal Castration
Liautard, Alexandre François Augustin
Castration
These will vary more or less in extent and severity, according to the
method employed in its performance, and in any case they may be
considered in two divisions; as primary or immediate, and secondary or
consecutive.
Amongst the first phenomena most commonly observed is, of course, a
manifestation of pain, characterized by symptoms of colic, exhibited by
the animal in a more or less marked degree, being the result of the
unavoidable irritation arising from the manipulations practised upon the
organs of generation, whose nerves rise from the sympathetic as well as
from the cerebro-spinal nervous system; and from the pain excited in the
spermatic cord by the pressure of the clamps, for example. These colicky
pains, which are more severe under the bloodless method than in those of
the other mode, usually subside after the first hour following the
operation, and as a rule require but little treatment more than that of
the walking exercise. This sort of pain having subsided, the only
further trouble likely to be noticed is the local trouble resulting from
the lesion to which the testicular region has been subjected. Resulting
from this local lesion, as well as from the rough manipulations
attending the various steps of the different procedures, a peculiar
stiffness will be observed in the motion of the animal. This may be
referred either to the local pain proper, to the dragging to which the
cord has been subjected, or to the presence of the clamps, which,
resting closely in the groin, necessarily more or less impede the action
of locomotion.
Hemorrhage may also occur immediately after the operation, either while
the patient is still on the ground or as soon as he regains his feet.
This may be due either to the solution of continuity at the edges of the
wound of the envelopes, or may proceed from the small testicular or the
spermatic artery. The first two causes of hemorrhage need not engage our
attention, usually ceasing spontaneously, and never being attended with
serious inconvenience. It is not so, however, in the case of hemorrhage
proceeding from the spermatic blood vessel proper, occurring after those
methods of operating which dispense with the closing of the artery by
artificial appliances, as is done with the clamp or the ligature, or
which may be observed in castration by torsion, cauterization, the use
of the ecraseur, or especially by the process of simple excision. Though
not necessarily fatal, the hemorrhage in these instances may require
prompt and effectual interference by the surgeon for its suppression.
It is not rare for castrated animals to become more or less tympanitic,
a condition which may be due, more or less, to the introduction of
atmospheric air into the abdominal cavity during the performance of the
operation. This condition of things is usually remedied by the unaided
action of natural causes.
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