الكاتب: Multiple References

Surgical treatment of four horses by means of an upward fixation of the patella has been described. A desmotomy of medal patellar ligamen has been performed. When resting, the horse’s patella hooks temporarily over the dorsal medial trochlear ridge. This has been described as some kind of a lock of the horse’s knee joint. Whenever the horse feels a need to relax the patella from the described position, he contracts m. quadriceps femoris, lifts the patella from the described position and returns it, after relaxing the muscle, into the trochlear groove. In case of a disturbed coordination of relaxing the patella from the described position, the animal does not flex the affected extremity. Clinically, the signs of an animal with a dorsal fixation of the patella, are fairly typical. The affected limb is visibly extended backwards. The horse can lean on the affected limb just with the front part or the dorsal wall of the hoof. In the past five years, dorsal fixation of the patella in the horse has been performed at the Clinic of the Veterinary Faculty of Ljubljana in three Thoroughbreds and one pony horse. All horses have been treated surgically by means of desmotomy which was performed on the standing animal. After surgery the animals rested 4 to 6 weeks. By means of a questionnaire we found out that in all cases the treatment was successful.