334 DISEASES OP THE HORSE. 



the presence of an open joint with suppurative synovitis — that is, with 

 the worst among the conditions of diseased processes, because of the 

 liability of the suppuration to become infiltrated into every part of the 

 joint, macerating the ligaments and irritating the cartilages, soon to 

 be succeeded by their ulceration, with the destruction of the articular 

 surface — or the lesion of ulcerative arthritis, one of the gravest among 

 all the disorders known to the animal economy. 



But ulcerative arthritis and suppurative synovitis may be devel- 

 oped otherwise than in connection with open joints ; the simplest and 

 apparently most harmless punctures may prove to be cause sufficient. 

 For example, a horse may be kicked, perhaps, on the inside of the 

 hock; there is a mark and a few drops of blood to indicate the spot, 

 he is put to work, apparently free from pain or lameness, and per- 

 forms his task with his usual ease and facility. But on the following 

 morning the hock is found to be a little swollen and there is some stiff- 

 ness. A little later on he betrays a degree of uneasiness in the leg, 

 and shrinks from resting his weight upon it, moving it up and down 

 for relief. The swelling has increased and is increasing, the pain is 

 severe, and, finally, there is an oozing, at the spot where the kick 

 impinged, of an oily liquid mixed with whitish drops of suppuration. 

 The mischief is done; a simple, harmless, punctured wound has ex- 

 panded into a case of ulcerative arthritis and suppurative synovitis. 



Prognosis. — From ever so brief and succinct descriptiort of this 

 traumatism of the articulations, the serious and important character 

 of these lesions, irrespective of which particular joint is affected, will 

 be readily understood. Yet there will be modifications in the prog- 

 nosis in different cases, in accordance with the peculiarities of struc- 

 ture in the joint specially involved, as, for example, it is obvious that 

 a better result may be expected from treatment when but a single 

 joint, with only its plain articular surfaces, is the place of injury, 

 than in one which is composed of several bones, united in a complex 

 formation, as in the knee or hock. As severe a lesion as suppurative 

 synovitis always is, and as frequently fatal as it proves to be, still 

 cases arise in which, the inflammation assuming a modified character 

 and at length subsiding, the lesion terminates favorably and leaves 

 the animal with a comparatively sound and useful joint. There are 

 cases, however, which terminate in no more favorable a result than 

 the union of the bones and occlusion of the joint, to form an anchylo- 

 sis, which is scarcely a condition to justify a high degree of satisfac- 

 tion, since it insures a permanent lameness with very little capacity 

 for usefulness. 



Appreciating now the dangers associated with all wounds of articu- 

 lations, however simple and apparently slight, and how serious and 

 troublesome are the complications which are likely to arise during 

 their progress and treatment, we are prepared to understand and 



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