NEURECTOMY AS A PRACTICAL OPERATION. 
521 
do not propose to enter into many theoretical details on the 
subject, but rather consider it from its more practical aspect. 
Great diversity of opinion exists among professional men as 
to the value and the results that are to be obtained from neurec¬ 
tomy. Some recommend it very indiscriminately, for all varie¬ 
ties of lesions, without first inquiring into the proper indications ; 
this has necessarily militated against its application and brought 
it into disrepute. If the surgeon misapplies it, if he practices it 
when it is contra-indicated, not the operation but the operator 
should be blamed. Others, very ill-advisedly, discard it almost 
entirely, and say to the owner “better sell your horse.” It is 
this diversity of opinion which has led me to write this paper. 
Various nerve trunks are selected according to the end in 
view : the tibial nerve in stringhalt; the sciatic for lesion below 
the hock, when it is resected about four inches above the point 
of the hock and opposite to the anterior border of the tendo- 
Achilles ; the median for lesions between the knee and the fet¬ 
lock ; the plantar and the digital for diseases below the fetlock. 
I shall only speak of the last three. 
Plantar Neurectomy. —Indications. One should not be too 
hasty in operating, for I have often seen cases in which navicu¬ 
lar disease, existing for several weeks to several months, was 
diagnosed, and recovery followed the use of a foot-bath, a mild 
liniment, or “ turning out ” for a few weeks. The typical indi¬ 
cation is a chronic disease, with pain and lameness, but no 
mechanical obstruction. Two conditions must here be con¬ 
sidered : i. The accuracy of the nerve supply to the diseased 
area ; 2. Is the lameness mechanical or is it the result of pain ? 
Neurectomy is practiced in ringbone, sidebone, contraction 
of the hoof, primary and secondary, inflammatory conditions of 
the lamina and the velvety tissues from traumatisms, laminitis, 
lesion secondary to street-nails, keraphilocele, quittor operation, 
etc. Its principle indication is the so-called chronic navicular 
arthritis. Any acute inflammatory condition is always a contra¬ 
indication. 
Operation .—The modus operandi is well known to all of us 
