Lacerated wounds are those occasioned by blunt bodies, as the teeth of the dog, tearing rather than cutting the flesh.
When a sheep has received any of these injuries, the following rules ought to be attended to, and in the order here recommended:—
1st. Arrest the bleeding, if profuse, and likely to endanger life.
2d. Clip away the wool for a few inches around the injured part.
3d. Remove dirt or other foreign body from the wound.
4th. Bring the separated parts as nearly together as circumstances will at the moment permit, and retain them there by suitable apparatus.
(106.) To stop Bleeding. Bleeding will, if no large arteries are divided, cease on the free exposure of the surface for a few minutes to the air; but when a large vessel has been cut, more determined means must be had recourse to. Pressure on the bleeding surface and its neighbourhood will in many cases succeed, but this or any similar method is far inferior to that of securing the open vessel by a thread. To accomplish this, the mouth of the vein or artery must be slightly drawn out from the contiguous surface, by means of a small hook, called by surgeons a tenaculum, and easily procured from any blacksmith. While the mouth of the vessel is thus held exposed, an assistant must surround it with a noose of thread, which, on being secured with a double knot, will effectually close it. The thread ought to be of white silk, though any undyed thread, which is firm, round, and capable of standing a pull, will answer the purpose. Care must be taken to place the thread, before tying it, fairly behind the point of the tenaculum, so as to avoid including the instrument within the ligature, a circumstance which would lead to the slipping of the noose and failure of the operation. The hook is now to be withdrawn, and one end of the ligature cut off by scissars within a little of the noose. The remaining threads are allowed to hang out of the wound, so as to admit of their removal when they become loose, which does not, however, take place till the termination of the first four days, and they are frequently retained for a much longer period. At each time the wound is dressed, after the fourth day, the ligatures should be gently pulled, or, which is preferable, twisted, to disengage them, if at all loose, so that the wound may be more speedily closed. Before proceeding to any operation where bleeding is expected, the operator should provide himself with a few well-waxed threads, each twelve inches long, so that no delay may ensue on a division of large vessels.
(107.) Removal of Extraneous Matter. Dirt is best removed by washing with a sponge or old linen rag and warm water. Other foreign bodies may in general be extracted by the finger and thumb. In some cases, however, it may be necessary to dilate or enlarge the wound with a fine-edged knife, in order to facilitate the removal of substances which, from their shape or situation, cannot be otherwise displaced.
(108.) Closure of a Wound. The last thing to be done is to bring the edges of the wound into as accurate contact as the state of the parts will at the moment permit, without, however, using any force. This, with a little care, is readily accomplished, the only difficulty being to retain them in the desired position. They may be held in contact either by stitches, (sutures,) plasters, or bandages, or by a union of the three. Stitches are only required when the wound gapes to a considerable extent, as it will always do when running across a muscle. They may be applied in the following manner. Transfix one side of the wound with a curved needle (armed with a well waxed thread) forcing the needle from without obliquely towards the bottom of the wound, then carry it through the opposite side from within, taking care to bring it out about the same distance from the edge as that at which it entered on the other margin. The needle must now be removed, by cutting the threads close to its eye, and while the ends are allowed to hang loose, the same operation should be repeated, at the distance of an inch or an inch and a half from the first stitch, as often as the length of the wound may render necessary. Your assistant will now bring the sides of the wound together as accurately as possible, and retain them there till you have tied the corresponding ends of the threads in a double knot.
(109.) Bandaging. Adhesive plaster is in some instances of service, but upon the whole ought rather to be dispensed with, being of difficult application, and moreover tending to the accumulation of filth and the discomfort of the animal. Nothing will be found to serve the purpose of supporting the parts so well as a properly adjusted bandage, which is useful in every instance, and sure to stay on if sewed here and there to the fleece. The bandage should never be omitted where the wound has any tendency to gape, as too great a strain upon the stitches cannot but lead to delay in the healing process. In bandaging a limb or part of a limb, commence always at the foot, and proceed upwards; in other parts of the body begin where you find it most convenient. Before applying a bandage to an injured surface, a couple of pieces of old linen of cotton rag should be folded into pads or compresses, and laid one on each side of the cut, and over these the bandage should be rolled, evenly and with moderate and uniform firmness. By this plan the separated surfaces are supported and preserved in close juxtaposition, especially at the bottom of the wound, a thing of some importance where the cavity is deep. Transverse cuts of the limbs of sheep require more careful and more complicated treatment than cuts in other parts, as there is a constant tendency of the edges to retract. This retraction of the edges may be in some degree obviated by the application of a splint, which may be made of a slip of stiff leather (such as is used for saddle flaps) well wetted, so as to be easily adapted to the form of the limb. It is intended to impede the motion of the leg, which occasions the gaping of the wound, and must therefore be made to pass over one or more joints as circumstances may require. Tow must be laid along the surface (a sound one if possible) on which the leather is to be placed, and a bandage then rolled over it so as to make all secure.