320 DISLOCATIONS. 



good recovery, and be fit for any ordinary work in a month or 

 two. Colonel Nunn (" The Veterinary Journal," May, 1890) treated 

 for this accident a mule, which returned to work after having 

 been on the sick list only twenty-five days. The chances of a 

 recovery without lameness after a dislocation with fracture (unless 

 there was no displaoeaiient) would be remote. 



TREATMENT.— The horse should be thrown on his sound side, 

 every precaution being taken that he does not get hurt. With 

 this object, we may adopt the method described on p. 646, 

 taking care to pull the head round to the injured side. The 

 " fallinn^ " should be made as soft as possible. It is almost essential 

 to employ an anaesthetic, such as chloroform or ether ; for without 

 it the operator will have but little chance, if the horse be strong, 

 of overcoming the resistance of the muscles of the part. Here, 

 complete muscular relaxation, and not merely insensibility, should 

 be the object in view. Nunn remarks about his case, that " this 

 mule was a miserable, weak animal or I would never have been 

 able to operate without chloroform." A rope should be attached 

 to the pastern of the injured limb, which should be pulled back- 

 ward so as to straighten it; or this might be done by means of a 

 long piece of soft cloth attached to the fore-arm by a clove hitch 

 (Fig. 127). One man in front of the chest should press with his 

 hands the head of the humerus backwards (if the dislocation be 

 of the usual kind) ; while another kneeling behind the withers (as 

 recommended by Major Blenkinsop), places the palm of his hand 

 at the back of the shoulder blade, as near the shoulder joint as 

 possible. Similar arrangements may be made to suit the kind of 

 dislocation, if it be of a different nature. The reduction of the 

 dislocation will be accompanied by a dull click. If this be not 

 heard, the altered and natural appearance of the limb will be 

 a sufficient guide to show that the operation has been successful. 

 After the animal has got up, he should be put into slings, and a 

 blister rubbed over the seat of injury. Of course, the slings 

 should be fixed no higher than just enough to allow the patient to 

 rest on them if he likes. The animal should be kept on laxa- 

 tive food. When he is seen to bear his weight on the leg, he may 

 be very gradually brought on to exercise it. In this, and in deter- 

 mining the period during which the patient is to be kept in 

 slings, the person in charge will have to exercise his own judgment. 

 In favourable cases, the horse will be able to walk in about a week 

 or ten days. 



I have been told that swinmiing the horse, immediately after 

 the accident, is a comm.on method of treatment for dislocation 

 of the shoulder and other injuries in Australia and New Zealand. 



