CHAPTER III. 



TENOTOMY AND MYOTOMY. 



DEFINITION. — Tenotomy is the surgical division of a 

 tendon to correct a deformity or inequality, or' to relieve 

 tension produced by encroaching pathological conditions. 



INDICATIONS. — Although tenotomies are very fre- 

 quently resorted to in domestic animal surgery for one con- 

 dition or other, it is worth noting that they are never cura- 

 tive. Tenotomies in veterinary surgery correct the effects, 

 but do not modify the cause. Shortened tendons are second- 

 ary conditions, due to pathological conditions of articulations 

 or synovial apparatuses, in which they themselves do not 

 share. The tendons themselves are free from disease ; they 

 simply contract to accommodate themselves to changes in 

 the skeletal angles. Osteites, synovites and tendo-synovites 

 are the primary lesions. Thus an inflammation in the region 

 of the carpus, by causing the knee to be held in constant 

 flexion, brings about a shortening of the metacarpal flex- 

 ors ; and inflammation about the fetlock, pastern or coffin 

 joint in the same way shortens the flexors of the phalanges, 

 and so forth, throughout all of the articulation having tendi- 

 nous relations. 



The object of the tenotomy is therefore that of correct- 

 ing deformities, due to certain diseases which must in ad- 

 dition, be submitted to appropriate treatment. The condi- 

 tion known as "knee sprung" is an example of this com- 

 pensatory contraction of tendons. The carpal bones or the 

 neighboring synovials, when attacked with painful inflamma- 

 tions, cause the knee to be kept in constant flexion, and thus 

 bring a relaxation of the normal tension of the three flexors 

 of the articulation, which then gradually shorten in length 

 to accommodate themselves to the new angle. At the same 

 time, structural changes occur in the diseased organs (bones, . 

 ligaments, and synovials) which will sooner or later prevent 

 the readjustment of the angle, even though the tendons have 

 been surgically divided. In order that tenotomies be suc- 

 cessful it is, therefore, essential that the operation precede 

 the devolpment of permanent deformities at the seat of dis- 

 ease. Otherwise the relief is partial or nil. Again it is 



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