FRACTURES OF THE VERTEBRJE. 723 



Vertebral fractures in oxen occur during coitus, fracture in the 

 cow being caused by too heavy a bull, and in the bull by falling. 

 Small animals may be run over, or violently kicked or struck. 



Luxation, that is displacement of the articular surfaces, and 

 subluxation (displacement of the vertebra from rupture of the 

 inter-vertebral ligaments), cannot clinically be distinguished from 

 fracture. Voigtlander and Gillmeister saw subluxation between 

 the last dorsal and first lumbar vertebrae in a cow, Thieme in a horse. 



Symptoms and course. Fractures of the vertebral processes 

 produce no particular general disturbance. Swelling occurs at the 

 spot, and may sometimes lead to pus formation ; while fracture 

 in the region of the withers of the superior spinous processes, which 

 give attachment to certain muscles of the fore-limbs greatly interferes 

 with movement, as Bouley mentioned in describing a case in the 

 horse. The head and neck, and also the back and loins, were held 

 stiffly as in tetanus ; the position of the fore-feet suggested laminitis ; 

 swelling, pain, and crepitation existed in the region of the withers. 

 The animal could not lie down for a month ; and although the 

 ability to move gradually returned, yet for some time the feet were 

 not properly lifted. In fracture of one of the anterior dorsal 

 vertebrae, certain respiratory muscles may be paralysed, but the 

 diaphragm is not affected. 



Fractures of the body of a vertebra are generally followed by 

 displacement of the broken fragments and injury to the spinal cord, 

 or by bleeding into the neural canal, and more or less extensive 

 paralysis. Fracture of the last dorsal and first lumbar with 

 compression of the cord is accompanied by paraplegia, with 

 paralysis of the rectum and bladder. The animal cannot rise, and 

 even when able to move the fore-limbs, has no control over the hind. 

 Under some circumstances injury to the spinal cord is delayed, and 

 it is certainly possible for vertebrae to be merely fissured. Many 

 observers have seen cases where the animal could still move, though 

 the back was held stiffly, and where symptoms of paraplegia only 

 occurred after several days. Spinola saw an animal which could still 

 carry its rider and could perform heavy work, though he believed 

 it to be suffering from fissure of a vertebra. Straube describes a 

 horse with a similar fissure, or fracture without displacement, which 

 could nevertheless be hunted and jumped. In rare cases the animals 

 can stand, but cannot move, as when the sciatic nerve is paralysed 

 and the crural escapes. Bombach saw this condition after fracture 

 of the second lumbar vertebra ; Moller found functional activity 

 of the crural retained after fracture of the fifteenth dorsal vertebra. 



