308 



condition of soundness and usefulness. Considered per se, a fracture 

 in an animal is in fact no less amenable to treatment than the same 

 description of injury in any other living being. But the question of 

 the propriet}^ and exi)ediency of treatment is dependent upon certain 

 si^ecific points of collateral consideration. 



First. The nature of the lesion itself is a point of paramount imjjor- 

 tance. A simple fracture occurring in a bone where the ends can be 

 firmly secured in coaj^tation presents the most favorable conditions 

 for successful treatment. If it be that of a long bone it will be the 

 less serious if situated at or near the middle of its length than if it 

 were in close proximity to a joint, from the fact that perfect immo- 

 bility can rarely, in the latter case, be secured without incurring the 

 risk of subsequent rigidit}^ of the joint. 



A simple is always less serious than a comiDound fracture. A com- 

 minuted is always more dangerous than a simple, and a transverse 

 break is easier to treat than one which is oblique. The most serious 

 are those which are situated on parts of the body in which it is difu- 

 cult to secure perfect immobility, and especially those which are 

 accompanied by severe contusions and lacerations in the soft parts; 

 the protrusion of fragments* through the skin; the division of blood 

 vessels by the broken ends of the bone; the existence of an articula- 

 tion near the point to which inflammation is likely to extend; the 

 luxation of a fragment of the bone; laceration of the i^eriosteum; 

 the presence of a large number of bony particles, the result of the 

 crushing of the bone — all these are circumstances which discourage a 

 favorable i^rognosis, and weigh against the hope of saving the patient 

 for future usefulness. 



Fractures which may be accounted curable are those which are not 

 conspicuously visible, as those of the ribs, where displacements are 

 either very limited or do not occur, the jjarts being kept in situhy t\\Q 

 nature of their position, the shape of the bones, the articulations they 

 form with the vertebra, the sternum, or their cartilages of prolonga- 

 tion; those of transverse processes of the lumbar vertebra; those of 

 the bones of the face ; those of the ilium ; and that of the coffin bones. 

 To continue the category, they are evidently curable when their posi- 

 tion an'1 the character of the patient contribute to aid the treatment. 

 Those ol' the cranium, in the absence of cerebral lesions; those of 

 the jaws; of the ribs, wilh displacement; of the hip; and those of the 

 bone of the leg in movab e region ^ but Avhere their vertical position 

 admits of j)erfect coaptation. 



On the contrary, a compound, complicated, or comminuted fracture, 

 in whatever region it may be situated, may be counted incurable. 



In treating fractures time is an important element and "delays are 

 dangerous." Those of recent occurrence unite more easily and more 

 regularly than older ones. 



Second. As a general rule, fractures are less serious in animals of 

 the smaller species than in those of more bulky dimensions. This 



