CURE FOR "ROARERS."

Northern Advocate, 11 January 1912, Page 2

CURE FOR "ROARERS."

TREATMENT BY OPERATION,

Roaring—not an uncommon defect in llorses —was for a long time regarded ] as incurable, but of late what is, known Dr. Williams' operation has had many advocates in England and America. A demonstration of this operation was recently given by Professor Hobday, under the auspices of the Western Counties' Veterinary Association of England. He explained that the.object aimed at was to find a remedy" to cure that annoying cause of unsoundness, which was more especially in the light horses, racers, and hunters. "Roaring," next to lameness, was almost the greatest bane of horseflesh, and the deterioration in value and usefulness was very great. Tc cure this complaint veterinary surgeons had devoted years of study. Various treatments had been tried, but none had properly succeeded hitherto without the aid of surgery. According to modern experimentation, a remedy was said to have at last been achieved, namely, that of removing the J mucous membrane of the ventricle of J the larynx on the side affected, causing the vocal cord to adhere to the side. "Roaring" was supposed to be (and veterinarians were generally agreed) caused by paralysis of the vocal cord, mainly on the left side. It would occur in both, due to defective nerve influence, owing in some way to malnutrition of the nerve. In the demonstration, the horses selected were a weight-carrying hunter, 16 hands high, six years old, a 'whistler" ; and the other an aged job horse, used lcr carriage work, a "roarer." The horses were prepared by careful feeding, fasting for about I>, hours previous to the operation. A straw bed having been provided, the animal is cast, the throat prepared externally with anaesthetics and antiseptic, the neck washed with hot water and soap, and the portion of the throat on which, the operation is to be performed shaved with a razor. Chloroform is then administered, and the animal placed on its back ready for the operation. The operation consists in making aa incision into the muscles of the throat, v.bich are dissected until the larynx is exposed. The ligament between the cartilages is pierced and then cut through sufficiently to show the internal view of the larynx. The vocal cords show the one normal and the other paralysed, confirming the diagnosis at the inferior portion; the nodule of the cord now showing superior is cut just at the point at the junction of the mucous membrane and the cartilage, and! a small incision made with the point of the knife. This is enlarged with the blunt end, afterwards the finger is inserted, and with a slight pressure the whole of the lining membrane of the ventrice is removed. The result of this is that the cartilage will, adhere to the s?'de of the adjoining cartilage, be kept back permanently in that position, becomes incapable of falling forward, the air in inspiration passes straight through into the lungs without meeting an obstacle, and no noise is produced. Afterwards the horse is allowed to recover from the chloroform. No stitching of the open

v. pund is required; it will he ll of itself in about three weeks. The animals were subsequently placed in aiiy looseboxes, and within half an hour were feeding. The next morning they were apparently all right, both looking comfortable. No swelling had taken place, and the breathing was calm and regular. The operations were neatly done by the professor, and occupied about 20 minutes for each horse, the actual operation on the larynx taking from three to four minutes.