TENOTOMY 
.579 
provided the other rules of asepsis are carried out. Hands and instru¬ 
ments must be disinfected, and sterilised dressings employed. 
The horse is cast on the affected side, the foot to be operated on 
fastened to the cannon bone of the upper hind leg, and the dressing 
removed. If a stout rod is handy it may be used like a side-stick to 
Fig. 213.—Tenotomy—first stage. Fig. 214.—Tenotomy—second stage. 
keep the limb extended. An incision through the skin is made with a 
pointed bistoury midway between the knee and fetlock, just above the 
fiexor pedis perforans, and is afterwards prolonged into it. If the 
tendon is thickened or adherent at this point to the flexor perforatus, 
the operation is repeated somewhat lower, though the lower tendon 
sheath must not be opened. A blunt tenotome is inserted, with its 
p p 2 
