OPEN- JOINT. 299 



OPEN-JOINT. 



This is one of the most serious injuries to which the 

 horse is hable. The joints most frequently laid open are 

 those occupying the most exposed situations, as the fet- 

 lock, stifle, hock, and knee. Frequently cases of opened 

 bursa are met with and mistaken for open-joint ; and, 

 although often very serious, open bursa can only be con- 

 sidered as a condition of a very trivial character in com- 

 parison to open joint. The temperament of a horse has much 

 to do with the result of open-joint, a dull, phlegmatic animal 

 standing a much better chance to recover than an excitable, 

 highly bred, or irritable animal. In these latter the in- 

 flammation runs much higher, and all the various symp- 

 toms, which in any horse are severe enough, are in these 

 increased to a fearful degree of intensity. A very common 

 termination of open-joint in highly bred animals is death ; 

 but, as before stated, if it occurs in an animal of a 

 phlegmatic temperament, and the case is got without delay 

 and treated, the chances of recovery are much better, the 

 inflammation not being so severe, and the constitutional 

 fever not running so high. However, even in those animals, 

 if not quickly controlled and held in check, death often 

 results ; and in those cases -where the life of the patient is 

 saved, the best result that can be expected is partial or 

 complete anchylosis of the joint. 



Causes. — Open-joint may occur in a variety of ways, as 

 by kicks, blows of any kind, falls, punctures, etc. When 

 the joint is opened by a clean incision, the case is more 

 favourable to treat than w^hen it is opened in any other way ; 

 the most unfavourable form of open-joint to treat being 

 that produced by a kick, as, besides the joint being opened, 

 it may be associated with fracture, and is most certainly 

 associated with ostitis, and a lacerated and bruised condition 

 of the soft tissues in the vicinij:y of the wound. 



