AMPUTATION OF THE CLAWS OF RUMINANTS. 



205 



Technic. Cast the animal and secure the foot to be 

 operated upon in an extended position, apply the elastic 

 ligature and after disinfecting the claws rasp away the horn 

 on the lateral side of the diseased claw, especially at the pos- 

 terior part of it, until the horny wall becomes so thin that 

 it can readily be pressed in with the fingers. Anaesthetize. 

 The corono-pedal articulation can be felt, about 3 cm. below 

 the coronary band, by grasping the claw with the left hand 

 in such a manner that the thumb rests upon the thinly 

 rasped horn while with the other hand the claw is moved 

 from side to side. At the lowest point of the articulation 

 push the sage knife into the joint, the concavity of the 

 knife being directed toward the leg, and make a curved in- 

 cision at first forward and upward to the neighborhood of 

 the coronary band, then with strong flexion of the foot a 

 second curved incision backward and upward which, how- 

 ever, extends only to the navicular bone. By this incision 

 the operator divides the horn, the sensitive lamina, the ex- 

 ternal corono-pedal ligament and the capsular ligament of 

 the corono-pedal articulation. Pass the knife between the 

 navicular and pedal bones and extend the incision down- 

 wards perpendicular to the solar surface through it, sepa- 

 rating the navicular bone from the os pedis. In this manner 

 the navicular' bone is preserved as well as the ball of the 

 heel, the latter of which is of special significance in healing. 

 The inner wall of the claw with the powerfully developed 

 corono-pedal ligament is divided from before backward. 

 After the vessels which can be seen are ligated, the articular 

 surfaces of the navicular and coronary bones curetted and 

 the necrotic remnants of tendon removed an antiseptic 

 bandage is applied and a tar bandage placed over it for pro- 

 tection. The bandage remains for 12 or 14 days. 



If the structures above this point of amputation are 

 irremediably involved the digit should be amputated higher 

 up, at the articulation of the first and .second phalanges or 

 through the first phalanx. In these higher amputations a 

 flap operation is generally practicable. 



