156 THE SURGICAL ANATOMY OF THE HORSE 



Section of the tendon of the peroneus muscle is a very simple 

 operation. The animal should be cast on the side of the sound limb, and 

 an anaesthetic administered. The area of operation should be carefully- 

 palpated, the usual preparatory treatment having been adopted. The 

 tendons of the extensor pedis and peroneus muscles should be located, and 

 traced down to the point where they become united to one another. We 

 have already stated that the large metatarsal artery passes beneath the 

 peroneal tendon just below the annular band. This vessel, of course, it is 

 essential to avoid. Consequently the nearer to the extensor pedis tendon 

 we make our incision the further shall we be from the artery. The incision 

 should be made along the course of the peroneal tendon, and the latter 

 exposed through the opening, on a tenaculum. Having exposed the 

 tendon, it should be severed, and a slit also made in the fibrous aponeurosis 

 which connects this tendon with that of the extensor pedis muscle. The 

 wound should be disinfected and the cutaneous opening closed. As this 

 need not be more than an inch long, one or two sutures are sufficient. 

 Applications of dry antiseptic dressings are now all that is necessary, 

 and healing should not take more than a few days. 



