CHAPTEK XII 



DISEASES OF THE JOINTS* 



A. SYNOVITIS. 

 Definition. — By the term ' synovitis ' is indicated an inflam- 

 mation of the synovial membrane. It may be either 

 (a) Simple or Acute, or it may be (/>) Purulent or Sujypu- 

 rative. 



In the simple form there is little or no tendency for the 

 affection to implicate the other structures of the joint, 

 whereas in the suppurative form the joint capsule, the liga- 

 ments, and the bones soon come to participate in the 

 diseased processes, giving us a condition which we shall 

 afterwards describe as acute arthritis. 



(a) Simple Synovitis. 

 1. Acute — (Causes). — Simple or acute synovitis is nearly 

 always brought about by injury to the joint — by blows 

 or bruises, or by sprains of the ligaments. At other times 

 it occurs without ascertainable cause, and is then put down 

 to the influence of cold, or to poisonous materials (as, for 



* Properly speaking, we have in the foot of the horse but one joint 

 — namely, the corono-pedal articulation. 



Although not a joint in the strict sense of the word, we, nevertheless, 

 intend here to consider the navicular bursa as such. In this apparatus, 

 although we have no articular cartilage proper, and no apposition of 

 bone to bone, we still have a large synovial cavity, and in close proximity 

 to it bone. We may, in fact, and do get in it exactly similar changes 

 to those termed ' synovitis ' and ' arthritis ' elsewhere. Therefore, we 

 include the changes occurring in it in this chapter, and hence the plural 

 use of the word to which this note refers. 

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