CHAPTER IV. 
TENDONS. 
I. 
CONTUSIONS. 
All superficial tendons, but more particularly those of the extremities, are 
exposed to contusions. The tendons of the flexors of the phalanges of 
the anterior extremity, in animals that forge, overreach, or interfere, and 
those of the hind legs in animals that kick backwards, are at times the 
seat of an inflammatory, cedematous swelling, very painful, and due to 
bruised traumas. As will be seen later on, however, true tendinitis (ne7/ 
Jerrure), in the etymologic acceptation of the word, is relatively rare. 
The inflammatory lesions of those tendons are almost always the con- 
sequence of sprains (eforts) or stretching produced during locomotion. 
On account of the structure and weak vascularity of the tendinous 
tissue, the ordinary characters of contusions are less marked than in 
other tissues; on the other hand, the progress of the inflammatory pro- 
cesses is slow and the pain often very severe. 
The treatment is that recommended in the chapter on Confusions in 
general. Antiphlogistics first, massage and resolutives later, constitute the 
principal agents. (See Zendinitis.) 
II. 
WOUNDS 
Wounds and subcutaneous tendinous ruptures will be considered sepa- 
rately. Although these lesions are manifested by functional signs about 
alike for a given tendon, their prognoses differ considerably. In ruptures, 
the traumatic center is protected from infectious agents, and cicatrization 
takes place quickly and almost always without complications; to avoid 
the elongation of the divided cord is all that the surgeon has to guard 
against. On the contrary, the wounds, like all exposed traumas, are sub- 
ject to numerous complications, particularly to tendinous quittor or sup- 
purative tenosynovitis. 
In horses and cattle, pricks of tendons are particularly common on the 
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