OLD UNREDUCED DISLOCATIONS.

Abstract

The term, old unreduced dislocations, is here used to cover cases where the joint surfaces remain luxated for a month or more after the accident. The delay in effecting reduction may have been due either to non-recognition of the condition or to the failure of the original manipulative replacement efforts. The designation "irreducible" is a misnomer, since a joint incapable of reduction by one method may be reducible by another procedure. <h3>DIAGNOSIS.</h3> The chief element in the prevention of this condition lies in immediate diagnosis at a time when reduction is easy; old dislocations exist because of faulty diagnosis. With ordinary anatomic and surgical knowledge, with anesthesia and the Rö2ntgen ray, primary diagnosis is usually a simple matter. Whenever uncertainty exists in regard to an injury near a joint, anesthesia should be the rule, since without its employment the pain and swelling often render accurate diagnosis impossible. Diagnosis once