METACARPAL TENOTOMY 



203 



It thus occurs that acquired volar flexion of solipeds is a 

 complex entity, consisting of a serious lesion as a cause, and 

 contracted tendons as an ultimate effect. 



Aggravated volar flexions of congenital origin are some- 

 times encountered in the new-born in the absence of any per- 

 ceptible lesion, but these usually improve with- the develop- 

 ment of the skeletal and muscular systems, like all other 

 similar deformities of the young. These require surgical 

 treatment, when the deformity is serious. In the most ex- 

 aggerated form they cause the patient to walk upon the dor- 

 sal surface of the phalanges. 



Fig. 109 — Volar Flexion of Pedal 

 Origin. 



FiG. 110 — Bilateral Volar Flexion due 

 to Sesamoiditis. 



Contractions of tendons from lesions in the tendons them- 

 selves seldom ever occur. The flexor tendons of the horse 

 may be sprained, ruptured or "bowed," and in the siege of 

 a painful, obstinate inflammation, without ever contracting 

 therefrom to any appreciable extent. A slight volar flexion 

 may result from such lesions, but it is never of the accentu- 

 ated type seen from lesions in the palmar aspect of the dig- 

 ital region. The sprained tendon is, therefore, in the meta- 

 carpal region, not an indication for tenotomy. It does not 

 cause a pronounced volar flexion. 



Similar deformities also occur in the pelvic limb, but not 

 with the same frequency as in the pectoral. The knuckling 



