4 4 ? 
REPORTS CF OASES. 
PUNCTURED WOUND OF THE FOOT. 
Editor Veterinary Review. 
’Tis not that the case was in any way unique, that I send you 
the enclosed report, but, that recovery was so rapid, and promises 
soon to be complete. A young black gelding received a punctured 
wound of the near hind foot, in which the nail passed vertically 
through the frog, to the left of the median line, perforating the 
tendon of the flexor pedis perforaus, and driving a portion of the 
cortical substance of the navicular bone into the cancellated 
structure, where it remained. The treatment commonly adopted 
in punctured wounds of the feet proving unavailing, it was finally 
determined to operate upon Nov. 8th. 
Being kindly assisted by one of the students of the American 
Veterinary College, a good portion of the outer half of the sole 
was removed, about one-third of the entire frog, the other inter¬ 
vening soft tissues, and a crescentic-shaped piece of the flexor 
tendon, so that nearly a half of the inferior surface of the 
navicular was laid bare. 
The portion contused by the nail was found firmly imbedded 
in the deeper parts of the bone, surrounded by tissue undergoing 
caries. The diseased bone (issue was carefully removed with the 
drawing knife, the wound dressed with carbolic solution, and 
ordered placed in cold water for forty-eight hours. 
The synovial discharge from the navicular bursa ceased shortly 
after the operation, but inflammation, with a strong tendency to 
suppuration, rapidly spread along the tendon and through the 
connective tissue of the heel and adjacent parts, so that in a few 
days, a counter-opening was made in the hollow of the heel, from 
which considerable pus escaped, mixed with a copious discharge 
of synovial fluid. Immediately the surgical wound granulated 
rapidly, the opening closed, the injured bone was covered from 
sioflit in less than a week, and the entire wound healed in four 
weeks time. 
The counter-opening discharged profusely for about two weeks; 
gradually losing its synovial character the pus became pure, 
diminished rapidly until the end of the fifth week, when the 
