132 DISLOCATIONS. 



Dislocations, 



The joints most liable to this injury are the shoulder and 

 knee before,, and the stifle and hip behind. It is not easy for 

 any person to effect the reduction of a dislocation, but one 

 habituated to the practice of surgery, and acquainted with 

 the anatomy of the animal. As circumstances, however, ne- 

 cessary to observe in all cases, it may be remarked that, when 

 a dislocation has happened, particular care should be taken 

 to examine whether there is a fracture also, which is fre- 

 quently the case. Under these circumstances the treatment 

 is rendered more complex, from the difficulty of reducing- the 

 dislocation, without using too much violence to the limb. — 

 See Fracture. — The mode of detecting- a fracture in these 

 cases is not difficult. On moving the joint, in case there is 

 fracture, there will be an evident roughness and grating of 

 the bones, which will be sensibly felt by the hand. 



When it is attempted to reduce a simple dislocation, it is 

 evident that the direction in which the dislocated bone is 

 parted from its socket should be first taken into consideration 

 in the means used for reducing it. A moderately firm exten- 

 sion should then be made by two persons ; one holding the 

 body and one part of the joint, and the other supporting the 

 immediate dislocated limb, at the same time giving the lux- 

 ated end a direction towards its socket. If this extension is 

 sufficiently and properly made, the dislocated bone will slip 

 into its place, and render the limb perfect. When the shoul- 

 der is dislocated from the arm, which is a rare occurrence, 

 the dislocation may be forwards or backwards: it occurs 

 generally forwards. The elbow may be dislocated either 

 inwards or outwards ; but it happens more frequently inwards, 

 and is ^seldom dislocated without a fracture also. 



The hip joint is oftener dislocated than either of the for- 

 mer, and it is most common for the head of the thigh bone to 

 be carried upwards and backwards, which makes the hip of 

 that side sensibly higher and more backward than the other, 



