Torsion of the right testicle being complete, the gland is thrust towards the upper part of the scrotum and the left testicle is submitted to the same manipulation, the position of the hands, however, being reversed.
Fourth stage. Fixation of the testicles in the inguinal region. Both testicles having been thrust upwards as far as possible into the inguinal region, the scrotum is ligatured below them. Tape or thick cord should be used, to guard against gangrene of the lower portions of the scrotum. A considerable œdematous swelling soon occurs, and when at the end of twenty-four or forty-eight hours infiltration is well developed, the ligature should be removed.
Dubourdieu has described a different method, in which the testicle is rotated in a horizontal plane. The position of the hands is then different. The left testicle, for instance, being at the base of the scrotum, the cord is grasped with the right hand opposite the base of the testicle, and the tail of the epididymis and the testicle are held with the whole hand whilst being rotated. If care is taken to fix the cord with the right hand, rotation is more rapid and easier than in the preceding method.
Fig. 313.—Bistournage. Second phase. Dubourdieu’s method.
Fig. 314.—Bistournage. Second phase. Dubourdieu’s method.
Difficulties in Operation.—Bistournage is highly commended in France on account of its avoiding all the complications resulting from sanguinary operations. Nevertheless it presents great difficulties, particularly in bulls of from two to three years of age, in which the testicles are hard to manipulate on account of their size, the thickness of the connective tissue, and sometimes because of abnormal adhesions. In such cases the preliminary manipulation alone sometimes extends over half an hour.
Bistournage is of doubtful efficacy when the testicles are small and round, because after the ligature has been applied the testicular cord tends to untwist, and the shape of the testicles readily lends itself to such movements. If untwisting occurs, the operation fails.
Consequences of the Operation.—The operation is often followed by more or less violent attacks of colic; the animal may suffer for five or six hours, after which it recovers.