339 



up — a form of breaking down whicli we have described when speaking 

 of the fracture of the sesamoids. Carrying weight is done only with 

 considerable difficulty, but with comparatively little pain, and the ani- 

 mal will unconsciously continue to move the leg as if in great safiFeriug, 

 notwithstanding the fact that his general condition may be very good 

 and his appetite unimpaired. 



The effect upon the general organism of compound lacerated wounds 

 of tendinous structures, or those which are associated with injuries of the 

 skin, are different. The wound becomes, in a short time, the seat of a 

 high degree of inflammation with abundant suppuration, filling it from 

 the bottom; and the tendon, whether as the result of the bruise or of 

 the laceration, or of maceration in the accumulated pus, undergoing a 

 process of softening, and necrosis and sloughing ensue. This compli- 

 cates the case, and probably some form of tendinous synovitis follows, 

 running into suppurative arthritis, to end, if close to a joint, with a 

 fatal result. 



The prognosis of lacerated tendons should be very cautiously at- 

 tempted. Under the most favorable circumstances a jieriod of from six 

 weeks to two months will be necessary for the treatment, before the 

 formation of the cicatricial callus and the establishment of a firm union 

 between the tendinous stumps. 



As with fractures, and even in a greater degree, the necessity is im- 

 perative, in the treatment of lacerated tendons, to secure as perfect a 

 state of immobility as can be obtained compatibly with the disposition 

 of the patient.; the natu-ral opposition of the animal, sometimes ill- 

 tempered and fractious at best, under the necessary restraint, causing 

 at times much embarrassment to the practitioner in ai^plying the nec- 

 essary treatment. Without the necessary immobility no close connec- 

 tion of the ends of the tendons can be secured. To fulfill this necessary 

 condition the posterior jiart of the foot and the fetlock must be sup- 

 ported and the traction performed by them relieved, an object which 

 can be attained by the use of the high-heeled and bar shoe, or possibly 

 better accomplished with a shoe of the same kind extending about 2 or 

 2^ inches back of the heels. The perfect immobility of the legs is ob- 

 tained in the same way as in the treatment of fracture, with splints, 

 bandages, iron apparatus, plasters of adhesive mixtures, and similar 

 'means. So long as the dressings remain in place undisturbed, and no 

 chafing or other evidence of jiain are present, the dressings may bo 

 continued without changing, the i)atient being kept in the slings for a 

 period sufficient to insure the perfect union of the tendons. But for a 

 compound lesion, when there is laceration of the skin, some special 

 care is necessary. The wound must be carefully watched and the 

 dressings removed at intervals of a few days, or as often as may be 

 needful, all of which additional manipulation and extra nursing, how- 

 ever indispensable, still adds to the gravity of the case and renders the 

 prognosis more and more serious. When the tendons have sloughed 



