Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 1 (of 5)Law, James
Science
Text book of veterinary medicine, Volume 1 (of 5)
Law, James
Veterinary medicine
In the =pig= fat and indocility combine to defeat our purpose in
examination of the chest. If these can be obviated it is well to know
that the diaphragm is attached to the upper two-thirds of the last rib,
and to the next three in front above their lower third.
In the =dog= the diaphragm is attached to the upper two-thirds of the
last rib, to the lower third of the next and to the lower ends of the
two following and to the breast bone. The shoulders are so mobile and
the breast bone so thin that nearly all the chest may be satisfactorily
examined. The heart, covered on both sides by lung, lies nearly
horizontally on the breast bone, through which its position and bulk may
be clearly made out by percussion.
EXAMINATION BY TOUCH.
Pressure by the fingers in the spaces between the ribs corresponding to
the pleura will cause flinching and perhaps grunting in pleurisy. The
same result will be seen in pleurodynia. In hepatized lung and pleurisy
with adhesions there is a diminished sense of the movement felt in the
intercostal spaces of the part in health.
PERCUSSION.
Methods. Tissues as good and bad conductors of sound. Immediate,
mediate percussion. Bilateral symmetry and divergence. Effect of
building, race, etc. Horse, left side, right. Ox, left side, right.
Effect of 1st and 3d stomachs, liver, etc. Sheep, diaphragm, heart.
Pig, fat, lean, heart. Dog, method. Birds, back, ribs. In disease,
increase, decrease, absence of resonance, in large area, in patches.
Crack pot sound.
This consists in striking the walls of the chest so as to bring out the
resonance of the parts. In proportion as we tap gently with the tip of
the finger or strike forcibly with the closed fist will we elicit the
sounds from the superficial or the deeper parts of the lung. Hence
slight blows only must be used when the lung tissue is thin, to avoid
bringing out the resonance from the deeper seated organs, and both must
be resorted to when the lung is thick to ascertain its condition at the
various depths. Where a moderate force is requisite the four fingers and
thumb of the right hand are brought together in a line and the weight of
the hand as moved from the wrist is employed to bring out the sound. The
ribs being hard convey sound best from the deeper parts, and on them
percussion is usually made. Care should be taken not to mistake the
lesser resonance conveyed through the soft tissues of the intercostal
spaces for an indication of a diseased condition. In proportion too as
the ribs are covered with flesh or fat, the resonance will be diminished
and a stronger blow will be necessary to bring out the sound from the
lungs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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