DISEASES OF THE SHOULDER-JOINT. 
505 
the animal should be slaughtered. Reduction being easier in small 
animals, the prognosis is correspondingly more favourable. 
Treatment. In large animals, which stand quietly, attempts may be 
made to reduce the dislocation without casting. Siedamgrotzky advises 
that one man should hold the animal’s head, another draw the leg 
forward, and a third press on the knee-joint to extend it, whilst the 
operator endeavours to return the head of the humerus to the joint cavity 
by strong pressure. Should this fail, the animal must be cautiously cast 
and the attempt repeated. A noose is passed round the leg, and two or 
three powerful men effect extension by pulling on it. Counter-extension 
is provided by a girth passed round the animal’s body. The operator 
stands on the joint and supervises the direction of extension, whilst 
endeavouring to replace the head of the bone. Successful reduction is 
notified by the production of a loud click, and by restoration of free 
movement to the limb. Failing reduction by this method, the elbow- 
joint is strongly flexed, and fresh attempts made; if the head of the 
humerus lies in front of the glenoid cavity, this way is more likely to be 
successful. The shoulder muscles retain the parts in position, so that 
bandaging is not usually necessary. Lodezzano, however, in the case of 
a cow, cut away the hair from the shoulder, smeared the parts with a 
mixture of pitch, turpentine, and wax, and applied a stiff piece of cloth; 
when the mass became hard, fresh layers were applied. In pronounced 
inflammation, cold applications are indicated. Absolute rest is necessary, 
and should be continued as long as any trace of lameness exists. To 
prevent return, which is liable to follow attempts to rise, the patient 
should be placed in slings for one or two weeks. Blistering also 
diminishes free movement of the shoulder and tends to prevent recur¬ 
rence. Bourgelat employed an iron splint like a horse-collar to assist 
retention. The apparatus is generally unnecessary, unless the animal 
be allowed to lie down. 
(b) Contusions and Distortions of the Shoulder-Joint.—These acci¬ 
dents are in general rare. The absence of firm ligamentous structures 
tends to prevent distortion occurring, while the muscles of the shoulder, 
especially the biceps, shield the joint from contusions. As long as the 
limb remains in its normal relationship to the trunk, even the violent 
concussion resulting from falls is not injurious ; the displacement being 
guarded against by the well-developed cartilages at the head of the 
joint. On the other hand, both excessive abduction, adduction, and 
rotation, produced by slips, falls, or attempts to free the foot which has 
become fixed in some obstruction, may result in distortion of the joint. 
The greater number of diseases described under this head consist, how¬ 
ever, in injuries to the biceps and to the intertubercularis bursa. 
