QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 247 



weight is placed on the limb ; excessive flexion of all the joints of the 

 limb occurs. 



Treatment: Immediate reduction of the luxation, using great 

 force if necessary, should be effected. In upward displacement, 

 drawing the leg forward with a rope attached to the fetlock region, 

 or starting the animal suddenly with a whip, will often bring about 

 reduction. Keep the patient very quiet in slings. A blister applied 

 over the stifle will help in keeping the limb at rest. If due to general 

 weakness and relaxation of the ligaments from disease, attempt 

 building up the general health. Momentary luxation is said to 

 have been cured by dividing the inner straight ligament 

 (desmotomy). 



Describe briefly patellar desmotomy (ligament section). 



The object of this operation is for the relief of habitual luxation 

 of the patella, or patellar string-halt, as it is sometimes called. The 

 operation has been but little tried in this country or elsewhere, 

 and its value is still sub judice. 



Secure the patient in lateral reciunbeney with the affected leg 

 beneath and extended. General ansesthesia should be employed. 

 Locate the internal ligament, running from the patella obliquely to 

 the supero-internal part of the tibia. Shave and disinfect a suffi- 

 cient area. Make an tucision, 2 inches long, through the sMn, 

 parallel to and directly over the middle third of the ligament, 

 exposing the fascia. Cut through the fascia, insert a blunt-pointed, 

 bistoury beneath the ligament from behind forward and sever the 

 ligament. Suture the skin wound and cover with collodion. 



Give the sjmiptoms of ruptured flexor metatarsi tendon. 



Lameness when the limb is carried forward ; the stifle is flexed 

 but the hock is excessively extended. The symptoms resemble those 

 of a broken bone but the absence of fracture is shown by the ability 

 to support weight on the limb. The symptoms are more apparent 

 during movement. Swelling and pain may be present over the 

 anterior surface of the tibia. 



Describe cunean tenotomy. What is the object of this operation? 



Operate on the standing animal, using local ansesthesia and a 

 sideline on the opposite leg. Locate the cunean tendon by palpation 

 as it passes obliquely downward and backward over the inferior 

 median surface of the hock. Shave and disinfect an area, 5 to 6 cm. 

 square. At a point about 1 cm. below the inferior border of the 

 tendon, midway between the anterior and posterior borders of the 

 hock, insert a narrow-bladed scalpel, flatwise, through the skin and 



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