328 Surgical Diseases and Surgery of the Dog 



ment for fracture to prevent them from tearing off the bandages 

 I have never found smearing the latter with bitter or noxious sub- 

 stances to answer the purpose, for an antagonistic dog will go to 

 almost any extreme to rid itself of what it regards as an imposition. 



Too firm application of bandages becomes manifest by exhi- 

 bition on the part of the animal of pain, uneasiness, anorexia, fever, 

 and local swelling. Sometimes the edges of a bandage will abrade 

 the skin and originate local ulceration. In either case the bandage 

 must be removed in whole or part. Persistence of functional im- 

 potency after a reasonable course of treatment indicates pseudar- 

 throdic formatipn or anchylosis following intraarticular fracture. 



In compound fractures it must first be decided whether ampu- 

 tation is indicated or not. If it is believed that the leg can be re- 

 stored to usefulness, thorough antisepsis must first be employed. 

 The interior as well as the exterior of the wound is cleaned and 

 disinfected, detached portions of bone removed and counter-open- 

 ings made for drainage if necessary. The application of fixed band- 

 ages may be postponed until healing of the superficial wound has 

 taken place, though if it is considered advisable some support may 

 be given by the use of temporary splints. Or, the fracture may be 

 treated as a simple one, but a "window" must be arranged over 

 the wound to permit of free drainage. 



FRACTURES IN PARTICULAR. 



The Cranial Bones. Fractures of the cranial bones are uncom- 

 mon. In five hundred and forty-eight of Froehner's cases there 

 were only four. The chances of recovery depend upon the pre- 

 sence or absence of intracranial complications, septic infection, and 

 the degree of injury sustained by the brain. Froehner says these 

 cases usually terminate fatally. Moeller states that he has witnessed 

 and successfully treated several cases in which both skull and brain 

 were injured. 



There may be many degrees of injury from simple fissure in the 

 external lamellae to penetrating, depressed, or compound fractures 

 and those accompanied by intracranial hemorrhage. Martin in- 

 stanced a case of simple external fracture, in which he removed two 

 pieces of bone consisting of almost the entire covering of the frontal 

 sinus, from the depths of a fistula, which had been discharging 

 just above the left eye for more than a month. Whitlamsmith sue- 



