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
=Dog.= Percussion is very satisfactory in this animal because of the
amplitude of the chest, the thinness of its walls and the small bulk of
the abdominal organs. In the upper and middle thirds on both sides alike
the sound is clear and full as far back as the seventh rib, whence it
decreases to the last. In the lower third a distinct but moderate sound
marks the first eight ribs and is equally clear on the right and left
sides. The thinness of the lung in its posterior part demands that
percussion be effected by the middle finger only, without any movement
of the hand. Unless the dog is very fat, good results may be obtained by
percussion over the first and second ribs, the shoulder blade and
breastbone.
=Birds.= In these and especially in the webfooted (ducks, geese) the
sternum is so thickly covered by flesh that no result can there be
obtained. Beneath the wings, however, and upon the back percussion
through the medium of a small coin as a pleximeter and with the middle
finger alone, is valuable. Beneath the wing a clear sound may be drawn
out over nearly all the ribs and on the back over a less extent (two and
a half to four inches, according to size).
PERCUSSION IN DISEASE.
=Increase= of resonance without any perceptible modification in
character is usually partial and depends on the increased distension of
the air cells of one lung, or part of a lung, to make up for the loss of
a part or a whole lung through hepatization or pressure by false
membrane or from water in the chest. If a part of a lung is solid and
impervious it gives a dull, dead sound, contrasting strongly with the
increased clearness of the remainder. So with water in the chest, the
clearness of the upper parts contrasts unmistakably with the dullness of
the lower. By watching the advance or retirement of these symptoms the
solidification of a lung and its process of clearing up, and the
effusion of water in the chest and its removal may be equally traced
through all these stages.
If the increased clearness is confined to the upper, lower, or posterior
border of one or both lungs, the sound being natural over all other
parts, it indicates the existence of emphysema of the lungs, a condition
almost constant in broken winded horses.
If the sound is drum-like over most of the lung it is due either to
extensive emphysema or to the presence of air as well as liquid in the
cavity of the chest. In the case first noticed there will be the double
action of the flank, the weak, dry, husky cough and the wheezing
breathing; in the last there will have been the previous attack of
pleurisy, and the application of the ear to the chest will detect a
splashing sound constant or heard only at intervals or on rising. This
should be carefully distinguished from abdominal gurgling.
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