United States or Burkina Faso ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Careful and repeated dressings with antiseptics are necessary until the inflammation has largely disappeared and healing is rapidly taking place. It may be advisable to tie the horse in the stall so that it can not lie down. DISTENDED SYNOVIAL SACS, JOINT SHEATHS AND BURSAE, "GALLS." Soft enlargements may occur in the region of the knee and fetlock.
The application of blistering agents is of no value in stimulating resorption of an excessive amount of synovia in chronic cases and the actual cautery when employed without perforation of the synovial structure, is of little benefit.
And finally, where there is reason for doubt, an aseptic exploratory puncture of the wall of the fluctuating enlargement may be made with a suitable trocar, and the discharging synovia will be proof of the existence of synovial distension.
There is swelling corresponding to the distended capsule of the joint, and on palpation the bodies moving under the fingers yield a sensation as of grains of rice shifting in a bag. If the bodies are so numerous as to be tightly packed together, the impression is that of a plastic mass having the shape of the synovial sac.
There may be an overgrowth of the fatty fringes of the synovial sheath, a condition described as "arborescent lipoma." The clinical features vary with the tendon sheath affected. There is little or no pain, but the fingers tend to be stiff and weak, and to become flexed.
Ganglionic cysts are met with in other situations than those mentioned, but they are so rare as not to require separate description. Ganglia are to be diagnosed by their situation and physical characters; enlarged bursæ, synovial cysts, and new-growths are the swellings most likely to be mistaken for them.
When the main incidence of the infection affects the synovial membrane, the clinical picture may assume the form of a hydrops, or of an empyema in which the joint is filled with pus. It is well seen in joints which are superficial such as the knee, ankle, elbow, and wrist.
The bursa may be derived from the synovial membrane of the adjacent joint with which its cavity sometimes communicates, or it may be of adventitious origin; when it is the seat of bursitis and becomes distended with fluid, it may mask the underlying exostosis, which then requires a radiogram for its demonstration. [Illustration: FIG.
This has been observed in children, especially in the knee, the lesion being in the synovial membrane, and attended with an accumulation of pus in the joint. If promptly treated by incision and drainage, recovery is rapid, and free movement of the joint, may be preserved.
Word Of The Day