134 . PARTICULAR FRACTURES. 



In this fracture it will be found that union is by false joint. 

 This will interfere more or less with the action of the animal 

 ever afterwards ; but by far the most common result is intense 

 inflammation, set up by the irritation of the broken fragments, 

 which become necrosed, abscesses form, commonly communi- 

 cating with the elbow-joint, and the animal dying (or having to 

 be destroyed) from irritative fever. 



Eeasoning from these facts, I am of opinion that the most 

 rational method of treatment will be at once to cut down upon 

 and remove the fragment or fragments w^hich may be separated 

 from the bone, bringing the lips of the wound together by suture, 

 applying the slings, and other appropriate remedies. 



There is a peculiarity about injuries to the neighbourhood of 

 the elbow which leads to the burrowing of any pus that may 

 form into the articulation, and in this way cause a most dis- 

 tressing complication — that of open joint. Kicks or punctures, 

 although they may be inflicted upon a part of the fore arm, at 

 a distance of four inches from the joint, will often produce this 

 dreaded complication, if great care is not taken in giving free 

 vent to all collections of matter ; and the reason for it is to be 

 found in the peculiarly firm nature of the muscular and other 

 structures of this part, the muscles being individually clothed 

 in firm thecae, and the whole enveloped in the brachial fascia. 



Treatment. — Eest in the slings, and the maintenance of the 

 limb in the position most calculated to favour the process of 

 repair by a properly adjusted shoe — high-heeled or otherwise — 

 or by the removal of the shoe, as each individual case presents 

 its own peculiarity of symptoms. These details of practice must 

 be left to the judgment of the practitioner, who alone will be 

 able to carry out what may strike him as essential to the well- 

 being of his patient. 



Fracture by direct violence is that most commonly met with, 

 and, in the majority of instances, from falls in the cart; the 

 elbow being thrown across the shaft, and both radius and ulna 

 broken through into the articulation. 



This lesion is easily diagnosed by distortion and crepitus. 

 Ko treatment can be recommended. 



If the ulna only is broken, it will be found that the fracture is 

 through "the beak of the olecranon," involving the surface, which 

 articulates with the humerus between and behind the condyles. 



