Fig. 10.—Dressing for fracture of the horn.
Symptoms. The symptoms are extremely simple. They consist mainly in the mobility of the fractured end, and such phenomena as sensitiveness, hæmorrhage, etc. When the fracture extends to the frontal bone, crepitation may also be noted.
Prognosis. The prognosis is not grave unless the fracture extends to the basilar half of the horn or affects the frontal bone.
Treatment. (1.) If the fracture is confined to the horn core, it is only necessary to bring the fragments into regular apposition, after having removed the broken end of the horn itself.
(2.) In treating a fracture affecting the middle portion of the horn or in treating animals destined for the butcher, the best method is to make a simple wound by dividing the parts with a saw below the fracture. This is a painful operation, necessitating anæsthesia, and requiring the animal to be cast or firmly fixed to a post or placed in a trevis. To diminish the painful stage of the operation, it was formerly recommended to make a circular incision extending through the entire thickness of the horn proper, and then to remove with a fine, very sharp saw the portion of the horn core. This, however, is scarcely practicable, and it is much better to make a direct section. Hæmorrhage is checked with compresses, moistened with cold water, after which a dressing known as the “Maltese cross dressing” (Fig. 10) is applied according to general principles.
The surface of the section, after washing with an antiseptic solution, is powdered with iodoform or a mixture of iodoform and boric acid, covered with a mass of tow or cotton wool, saturated with liquid antiseptic, and then surrounded with a flat pad of wadding, which extends completely around the horn as far as its base. A second pad of larger size, intended to protect the wound against external violence, is arranged around the free extremity of the horn. This is kept in position by two small cross bandages. Another bandage, the loop of which is fixed to the base of the opposite horn, is then applied in spiral turns, completely enveloping the former pads and extending from the base to the point. Arriving at the free end, the operator reverses the bandage, draws it tight, and continues down to the base of the horn, fixing it by figure of 8 turns passed around the base of both horns.
Fig. 11.—Splint for fractured horn.
(3.) In dealing with fractures of the lower third of the horn in working oxen, it is necessary to seek consolidation of the horn by callus formation, so that the animals may again become useful in the yoke. Very great difficulty accompanies attempts to immobilise the horn in such cases, since the least shock to the extremity of the horn destroys the union, on account of the length of the lever represented by the horn itself.
The first method of treatment consists, after the wound has been carefully disinfected, in fixing the ends in place by tightly applied pads, surrounded by splints, curved to fit to the horn. These are supported by several turns of a spiral bandage.