FRACTURE OF THE PELVIC BONES IN BOVINES IMPLANTED WITH TABLETS OF SYNTHETIC OESTROGENS

Cow CL 4 was slaughtered as she was unable to stand. Fracture of the pelvis was suspected. Post-mortem examination revealed that the right ilium was fractured transversely at approximately the junction of the shaft and the wing. The fractured ends were becoming rounded but there was no callus formation. The left ilium was fractured in the same region but more obliquely and there was slight callus formation. The ventral sacro-iliac ligaments on both sides were abnormally relaxed and the sacro-iliac articulations were congested. Heifer HL 17 showed very slight symptoms; the fracture was diagnosed from the displacement of the right coxal tuber. The animal was slaughtered at the owner's request in case the symptoms became acute. A post-mortem examination was made and the fracture was found to extend obliquely from the sacral tuber across the wing of the ilium to the lateral border in the region of the junction of the wing and shaft. The periosteum was intact on the pelvic surface but was ruptured on the gluteal surface. The various pelvic ligaments were relaxed and the sacro-iliac articulations abnormally mobile