304 DISEASES OF THE HORSE. 



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

 portance. A simple fracture occurring in a bone where the ends 

 can be firmly secured in coaptation presents the most favorable con- 

 ditions 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 

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

 the risk of subsequent rigidity of the joint. 



A simple is always less serious than a compound 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 diffi- 

 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 periosteum; 

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

 crushing of theisone — all these are circumstances which discourage 

 a favorable prognosis, 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 parts being kept in situ by the 

 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 coffinbones. 

 To continue the category, the following are evidently curable when 

 their position and the character of the patient contribute to aid the 

 treatment: Those of the cranium, in the absence of cerebral lesions; 

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

 those of the bone of the leg in movable regions, but where their 

 vertical position admits of perfect coaptation. 



On the contrary, a compound, complicated, or comminuted frac- 

 ture, 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 

 influence of species will be readily appreciated when we realize that 

 the difficulties involved in the treatment of the latter class have hardly 

 any existence in connection with the former. The difference in 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



