140 VETERINARY SURGICAL OPERATIONS 



conditions is highly advantageous after any of the neurotomy 

 operations. The immediate return to heavy work is gener- 

 ally disastrous. 



Bilateral and Unilateral Plantar Neurotomy 



SYNONYMS. — Plantar neurotomy; high plantar neu- 

 rotomy; metacarpal neurotomy; the high operation. 



DEFINITION.— The surgical division of one or both of 

 the plantar nerve trunks a short distance above the meta- 

 carpo-phalangeal articulation, performed for the purpose of 

 destroying the sensibility of diseased structures related or 

 belonging to the articulations beneath. 



HISTORY.— The history of plantar neurotomy is that 

 of neurotomy in general, owing to the fact that this was the 

 first of the neurotomy operations introduced into veterinary 

 surgery, as well as the only one that was performed to any 

 extent for more than half a century after its introduction. 

 (See page 126.) During the past decade, that is during the 

 real evolutionary cycle of veterinary surgery in America, it 

 was the only neurotomy operation performed by the rank 

 and file of the profession. The so-called "low operation," 

 although generally known and understood, was avoided, ex- 

 cept possibly here and there by certain well known practi- 

 tioners and teachers in some of the leading colleges. Slowly, 

 however, the digital operation gained prestige and largely 

 supplanted it in the treatment of navicular disease, except as 

 a kind of last resort operation when all other lines of treat- 

 ment, including the low operation, had failed. 



When first introduced into this country it was given an 

 entirely too wide range of application, A number of Euro- 

 pean graduates, some of the earlier American and Canadian 

 graduates and some few of the bolder empirics of which the 

 profession was largely constituted, encouraged by the mag- 

 ical cure of various forms of lameness, perhaps laudable 

 enough in their intentions, performed the operation right and 

 left, anywhere and everywhere, for the trivial lameness and 

 the severe lameness, for the acute case and the chronic case, 

 for corns, ringbones, sidebones, and in fact for almost every 

 diseased condition that is capable of causing a lameness. 

 The result of this incongruous application is easily fore- 

 told in view of what is now known of neurotomies in general. 

 Horse after horse was ruined. Feet disintegrated, hoofs 

 were cast off, tendons were loosened from their bony attach- 

 ments to the extent of bringing a justified prejudice against 



