SPECIAL DISEASES AND INJUKIES. 



OHAPTEB VII. 



FEACTUEES. 

 GENERAL ANATOMICAL CONDITIONS. 



A fracture of a bone implies in addition some injury to soft 

 parts because of the close relationship of muscles through their 

 attachment to the osseous tissue, of the proximity of nerves and 

 vessels running in bony grooves and canals or through foramina, 

 and of the subjacent position of viscera. It is when severe 

 injury of soft parts is induced that a complicated fracture is in 

 evidence. 



Bones enter into the formation of joints, therefore a fracture 

 occurring near or through the articular end of a bone may involve 

 a joint ; or a dislocation may be associated with the fracture, 

 constituting a further form of complicated fracture. 



The attachment of muscles to bones causes in most cases the 

 deformity which so often follows upon a fracture, and the precise 

 degree or variety of deformity depends upon the position of the 

 fracture and the relative attachment of muscles to the fragments. 

 The laceration of small blood vessels and the consequent 

 extravasation of blood produces in part the swelling which 

 so quickly follows a fracture. 



The abnormal mobility present after a fracture is the result of 

 the solution of the continuity of the bone, and the direction 

 of the movement is to a great extent dependent upon the 

 anatomical relations of the bone. 



