2 4 8 DISEASES OF THE DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



hock (d) a swelling may occur at the side of the peroneus, and (e) 

 at the middle of the front of the hock due to hygroma of the ex- 

 tensor pedis. 



Treatment. — Chronic serous teno-synovitis (hygroma of ten- 

 don sheaths), when not causing lameness, needs no treatment. 

 During an acute exacerbation, the treatment is similar to that 

 in the acute form — rest, cold or Priessnitz applications and com- 

 pression by elastic, Esmarch or flannel bandage. Firing and blis- 

 tering are of little value in chronic teno-synovitis. Rest is facili- 

 tated in all cases of teno-synovitis of the flexor tendons attended 

 with lameness, by the application of high-heeled shoes, whether in 

 the fore or hind limbs. The tendons are thus relaxed. So this 

 means should not be neglected in lameness due to bursitis of the 

 flexor brachii, of the infraspinatus and of the gluteus maximus ; nor 

 in teno-synovitis of the sesamoid sheath, sprain of the flexor tendons, 

 nor in thoroughpin of the hock. 



Operation is the only means of curing chronic, serous teno- 

 synovitis. This is always attended with the danger of sepsis and 

 resulting damage to the neighboring parts and perhaps death from 

 septicemia, unless asepsis is perfect. The sheath of the flexors are 

 opened with more danger than that of the extensors. Sometimes 

 the sheath connects with the joint, as occasionally in the case of the 

 extensor pedis of the fetlock. 



Bog spavin, or hydroarthrosis of the tibio-tarsal joint, must 

 not be mistaken for tarsal teno-synovitis, if operation is to be done. 

 The simplest operation consists in casting the animal, shaving and 

 scrubbing a large area about the part with green soap and water, 

 followed by alcohol (70 per cent.) and ether and drying and paint- 

 ing with tincture of iodine. The instruments having been boiled, 

 a needle of a hypodermic syringe is plunged into the distended 

 synovial sheath of the tendon and left there. Then the fluid is with- 

 drawn from the sheath by a potain or Dieulafoy aspirator connected 

 with an aseptic needle. When the sac is thus emptied, J4 to 1 dram 



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