LUXATION OF THE FEMUE. 



o7 



Finally, luxation may be either complete (in which case the capsular 

 and interosseous ligaments are both ruptured) or incomplete. In the 

 former case, the head of the femur becomes displaced upwards and 

 forwards towards the great sciatic notch, more rarely backwards in the 

 direction of the ischium, and in exceptional cases downwards and 

 inwards below the pubis into the foramen ovale. 



Symptoms. The symptoms vary, depending on whether the Luxation 

 is of the spontaneous, progressive order or, on the contrary, is accidental. 

 In progressive luxation, the animals are able to rise and walk with 

 difficulty. The affected limb swings wdien the animal is advancing, not 

 as though it were paralysed, but simply as though displaced at its upper 



Fig. 21.— Accidental luxation of the hip joint. 



part. Pain is exhibited when weight is placed on the limb, and there is 

 difficulty in movement. The limb appears shorter than its nei,^hbour 

 when the animal stands on it, and the prominence representing the 

 trochanter is more marked. A\'hen a false joint has formed, the hmb is 

 rioid is moved stiffly and abducted, and the stride is shortened. 



° In accidental luxations, either of one or both limbs, the attitude 

 assumed by the animal is often characteristic. One of the limbs is ex- 

 tended at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the body and some- 

 times both limbs assume this position, an attitude winch ^yould be 

 absolutely impossible under normal conditions. The animal canoo 

 rise It lifts the front part of the body by rismg on its knees, but he 

 hind quarters do not follow. The ruptured adductor muscles are unable 

 to brine and hold the limb parallel to the longitudinal axis of the body ; 

 the abductors act unopposed, and at the moment when the animal makes 



