ETIOLOGY AND OCCURRENCE 1? 



for the student of veterinary medicine who would comprehend 

 the technic of reduction and subsequent treatment in such 

 cases. 



Fractures are classified by many authorities as being simple, 

 compound, and comminuted. This method is practical because 

 it separates dissimilar conditions. There are also grouped frac- 

 tures, the pathologic anatomy of which is similar. Classification 

 on an etiological basis would attempt to associate conditions, 

 the morbid anatomy and gravity of which would justly preclude 

 their being combined. 



Simple Fracture is a condition where the continuity of the 

 bone has been broken without serious destruction of the soft 

 structures adjacent, and where no opening has been made to the 

 surface of the flesh. Such fractures do not reduce the bone to 

 fragments. Long bones are frequently subjected to simple frac- 

 ture, while short thick bones, such as the second phalanx, may 

 suffer multiple or comminuted fractures. 



Compound Fracture designates a break of bone with the 

 destruction of the soft tissues covering it, making an open wound 

 to the surface of the skin. This form of fracture is serious 

 because of the attendant danger of infection, and in treatment, 

 necessitates special precaution being taken in the application of 

 splints that the wound may be cared for without infection of the 

 tissues. These fractures generally occur as a result of some 

 forceful impact through the flesh to the bone, or where the bones 

 are driven outward by the blow. Common examples are in frac- 

 tures of the metacarpus and metatarsus of the first phalanx. 

 This kind of injury in mature horses usually produces an ir- 

 reparable condition, and viewed economically, is generally con- 

 sidered fatal. 



Comminuted Fractures, as the term implies, are those cases 

 wherein the bone is reduced to a number of small pieces. This 

 kind of break may be classified as simple-comminuted fracture 

 when the skin is unbroken, and when the bone is exposed as a 

 result of the injury, it is known as a compound-comminuted 

 fracture. Such fractures are caused by violent contusion or 

 where the member is caught between two objects and crushed. 



