FRACTURES. « . 447° 
Immobilization should be not carried to extremes; massage and early- 
exercise will prevent articular indurations,and muscular atrophy. 
\ 
IX.— Tibia and Fibula. 
Fracture of the tibia is one of the most.frequently met with. The posi- . 
tion of this bone in the skeleton of the hind leg exposes it particularly to . 
kicks, principal occasional cause of the accident in horses. It is true that. 
this fracture is always serious, but it is not necessarily irremediable, as con- 
sidered by many. Many cases are recorded in our journals. In 1838. 
d’Arboral reported those of Tamisier, Duchemin, Géant, Mullon, Bet- 
tinger, Leblanc, in horses; of Mullon, Buisson, in cattle. The cases of © 
Lavigne, Rossignol, Lafontaine, Poisson, have added to the proofs al-. 
ready obtained of the possibility of recovery in cases of fractures of the - 
tibia in animals. Every practitioner knows of its benignity in dogs. 
The chances of success exist principally when the fracture is located 
in the lower third of the bone, when it is transversal and without dis- . 
placement; fractures of the middle or superior part of the bone, the - 
oblique one complicated with overlapping of the ends, are the most - 
serious. cm 
As in most fractures, interference imposes two indications: reduction 
and contention. If possible, reduce in the standing position. If the - 
animal has to be cast, use anesthesia. For contention, use pitch, gutta- 
percha, plaster or the mixture of Piau. 
In the horse treated by Bettinger, the middle part of the tibia was 
the seat of an oblique complete fracture. Reduction was made in the 
standing position: a first apparatus made of linen cloth, black pitch 
and rollers having become loose, the author made a kind of . corset 
with a double piece of strong linen, between the layers of which sev— 
eral flexible splints were sewed,-parallel to the leg and separated more or: 
less from each other. This “ corset’? was padded on its inside and held . 
in place by a roller. . The bandage remained in place thirty-eight days. 
A chafed wound of the tendo-Achilles healed rapidly; the gait, stiff first, 
became normal gradually. Later, the callus was fired, and though he was: . 
a little lame, the horse was able to resume his work. 
Leblanc has treated several fractures of the tibia. To place the horse - 
in slings, lower the floor of the stall by a hole under the broken leg, 
make extension with a heavy weight tied to the foot, apply a bandage on 
the leg made of oakum, black pitch and splints, two of which are quite-~ 
long and extending, the external from the foot to the stifle, the internal’. 
from the hoof to the upper third of the leg; such is the modus operand: 
he recommends. 
