TENOTOMY. 



849 



weight on the leg, it may be placed in a stall, better still in 



a box : otherwise, on the second day after operation, it should 



be slowly walked for a quarter to half an hour, preferably 



on soft ground. This is almost indispensable to prevent cicatricial 



contraction and ensure restoration of the normal fetlock position. 



The frequent relapses noted are due to 



neglect of this precaution. For a similar 



reason, operation must be delayed until 



pain has almost disappeared, otherwise 



the requisite weight cannot be put on the 



limb. Experiment shows that mechanical 



extension of the cicatricial tissue is necessary 



to give the newly-formed tissue the character 



of tendon substance. 



It almost goes without saying that, 

 either before or soon after operation, the 

 foot must be restored to its proper form 

 by judicious paring. Animals can some- 

 times be returned to work in ten weeks, 

 though it is advisable in most cases to 

 prohibit work for a much longer interval, 

 or until local pain has disappeared. The 

 cicatricial tissue is sufficiently solid in 

 from thirty to forty days to assure 

 continuity of the tendon, but repair that 

 will stand the strain of ordinary draught- 

 work is not completely effected before 



six or seven months from the elate of FlG - 484. -Excessive dorsal 



___ . . flexion after section ot the 



operation. When lameness persists, it 



may generally be removed (in animals 



which cannot be kept idle) by dividing 



the median nerve. Moller repeatedly 



performed neurectomy and tenotomy 



simultaneously in horses belonging to a 



large horse-owner, who loaded his horses 



heavily, and worked them hard ; and where lameness was still 



marked, has treated both contracted tendons and shot-over fetlocks, 



due to contraction of the suspensory ligament, at the same time, 



and rendered horses workable again even in four to five weeks. 1 



Median neurectomy is first performed, then tenotomy. For a 



perforans and perforatus 

 tendons— the " knuckling " 

 at the fetlock is due to 

 contraction of the sus- 

 pensory ligament, and has 

 not been affected by the 

 operation (from a photo- 

 graph). 



Mnller's own statement : 



Wurde ... die Pferde oft schon nach 4 — 5 Wochen 

 arbeitsfahig." 



