PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF RING-BONE. 
613 
If after such treatment lameness still persists, or if the animals are 
of little value, and long-continued treatment is objected to on the score 
of expense, neurectomy may be tried. As a rule, the plantar, digital, 
or median nerve must be divided, and the operation is generally 
successful unless mechanical obstruction to the movement of the 
joint exists. 
As the treatment of chronic ring-bone often calls for every remedy in 
the repertoire of the practitioner, and as the various neurectomies usually 
Fig. 234.—Neurectomy below the fetlock. A, Band from the suspensory ligament to the 
extensor pedis tendon (this includes the tendon of the interosseous muscle) ; B, digital 
nerve ; C, digital artery. 
represent his last resource, it has been found convenient to shortly 
describe those more commonly performed at this place. 
Before utilising any of these operations, however, it is necessary to 
clearly ascertain two points—viz. : (1) That the diseased and painful 
parts are exclusively supplied with sensory fibres by the nerve to be 
divided; and (2) that the lameness is due solely to pain and not to such 
changes as adhesions in or around the joints themselves or contraction 
of tendons or ligaments. If these conditions can be satisfied the lame¬ 
ness will be removed by neurotomy or neurectomy—not otherwise. 
Needless to say, it is unwise to operate on riding-horses, especially when 
the front limbs are placed far under the body and the pasterns are 
upright; such animals are prone to falls under any circumstances, and 
