Abstract
By injecting 10-15 c.c. of 85-95 per cent. alcohol, usually with 0.7 per cent. glacial acetic acid, into the main pancreatic duct of dogs, we coagulated at least 95 per cent. of this organ in successful experiments. The extent of this coagulation was determined by a careful inspection at the time of injection, by reoperation after a number of weeks, and by autopsy and microscopical examination. The external secretion of the gland was abolished in all experiments.
Our material is formed by 19 dogs, of which six lived four weeks and longer; one of the four dogs still living is in excellent condition 104 days after the operation. The blood and urine were examined at frequent intervals, daily when necessary. The dogs were fed a regular mixed diet composed of about 100 grams of cooked meat scraps, 4-500 grams of bread-meat broth mush, 50 grams ground bone and occasionally 10-60 grams of lard. Water was given freely.
Our results are briefly as follows: in spite of the fact that at least 95 per cent. of the pancreas was immediately killed by the alcohol-acid mixture, and that the dogs were fed on a diet rich in carbohydrate, yet the great majority of our animals showed no glycosuria or hyperglycemia. Occasionally a faint trace of sugar appeared in the urine. The blood sugar varied in general between 0.10 and 0.15 per cent.; in some nervous dogs, which required considerable handling, the blood sugar at times reached 0.20 per cent.
There were two striking exceptions to this general course; two dogs developed a severe diabetes immediately after the operation. In dog 28, which died after 28 days, the urinary sugar varied between 3 and 6 per cent., and the blood sugar from 0.27 to 0.40 per cent. This dog showed a gangrenous pancreatitis.
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