The Articulations 353 



ments of the joint, according to the direction of dislocation, the 

 movements being made in inverse direction to that in which the 

 lesion has taken place. Reduction being effected, the joint does not, 

 as a rule, tend towards reluxation, excepting in certain cases to be 

 noted hereafter. But the joint should be maintained immobile until 

 the local inflammatory changes have subsided and the parts assumed 

 their normal relationship. For this purpose bandages and spUnts 

 are utilized. At the expiration of fifteen days the latter may be re- 

 moved and the joint submitted to massage and passive exercise. 



LUXATIONS IN PARTICULAR. 



The Temporo-Maixillary Articulation. The most frequent 

 cause of this luxation is excessive opening of the jaws, as may oc- 

 cur at clinical examination, when dogs in worrying oxen attempt to 

 seize them or are kicked by them, when a greyhound seizes a hare 

 in the chase, or even when the animal yawns. The lesion may be 

 unilateral or bilateral and it takes place in a forward and upward 

 direction. 



Symptoms and Diagnosis. In unilateral dislocation the symp- 

 toms are local paralysis with lateral displacement; in bilateral dis- 

 location there is forward displacement. The facial expression is 

 anxious, the animal salivates freely, howls with pain, and paws at 

 its head. The head is depressed when the lesion is bilateral and in- 

 clined to one side when it is unilateral. The interior of the mouth 

 is plainly visible, the back molars are seen to be separated, and in- 

 clined to one side in the unilateral form, and the tongue is discol- 

 ored and protruding. The eyeballs may also protrude owing to 

 pressure by the displaced coronoid processes. This condition has 

 many points of resemblance to paralytic rabies, but anyone con- 

 versant with die symptoms of the latter disease need not confound 

 the two. In rabies the jaw can be closed; in dislocation it cannot. 

 The prognosis is good when there is no complication of fracture. 



Treatment. Reduction is effected by depressing the angle of 

 the jaw, and entails the exercise of considerable force and patience. 

 An anesthetic is necessary and the animal should be secured on its 

 back with the face flat on the table. The jaw is used as a lever, a 

 fulcrum being formed of a stick from^ six to twelve inches in length 

 and from one-quarter to one-half an inch thick, with a wrapping of 



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