Lameness of the Horse: Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1Lacroix, John Victor
Science
Lameness of the Horse: Veterinary Practitioners' Series, No. 1
Lacroix, John Victor
Horses -- Health; Lameness in horses
In some cases of dystocia the obturator nerve, (or nerves, if the
involvement is bilateral), becomes injured by being caught between the
maternal pelvis and some dense part of the fetus. This results in
paralysis of the adductors of the thigh if sufficient injury is done.
It is said that nerves become over-stretched and held tense, in certain
positions in which animals are obliged to remain while cast in
confinement such as in some instances where unusual methods of restraint
are employed. When the fore feet are drawn backward in such manner that
great strain is put upon the radial nerve, it suffers more or less
injury, and this is followed by partial or complete paralysis which may
be temporary or permanent.
Degenerative changes affecting nerves, as in other tissues, occur and
more or less locomotory impediment will follow--this depending upon the
nerve or nerves affected and the nature of such involvement. Tumors may
surround nerves and eventually the nerve so exposed becomes implicated
in the destructive process. Before degenerative changes take place in
the nerve substance, in such cases, pressure may completely paralyze a
nerve when it is so situated. Melanotic tumors in the paraproctal tissue
in some cases, because of the large size of the new-growths, cause
paralysis of the sciatic nerve. The author has seen one case of brachial
paralysis occasioned by an enormous development of fibrous tissue
involving the structures about the ulna.
AFFECTIONS OF BLOOD VESSELS.
Lameness caused by disturbances of circulation may be due to structural
affection of vessels, or functional disorders of the heart, and in some
instances, a combination of these causes may be active.
Direct involvement of vessels is the commoner form of circulatory
disturbance which occasions lameness, and the most frequent cause is of
parasitic origin. Sclerostomiasis with attendant arteritis, thrombus
formation and subsequent lodgement of emboli in the iliac, femoral, or
other arteries, causes sufficient obstruction to prevent free
circulation of blood, and the characteristic lameness of thrombosis
results.
Indirect injury to vessels may occur because of contused wounds and
subsequent inflammation of tissues supplied by such vessels. If the
injury be of sufficient extent, considerable extravasation of blood will
take place and the painfully swollen parts necessarily impair
locomotion. In such instances lymph vessels participate in the
disturbance, and the condition then becomes one wherein lymphangitis is
the predominant disturbing element.
Angiomatous tumors are occasionally found affecting horses'
legs--usually the result of some injury; and because of their size or
position, they mechanically interfere with function. Furthermore, when
such tumors are located on the inner or flexor side of joints, enough
pain is occasioned that affected animals show evidence of distress,
usually by intermittent lameness.
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