Tenotomy of the tibial insertion of the semitendinosus muscle of two horses with fibrotic myopathy

Abstract

Two horses with fibrotic myopathy of the semitendinosus muscle are described. The report deals with the aetiology, clinical signs and diagnosis of the condition, and discusses the different surgical techniques described in the literature. Tenotomies were performed on both horses. Excellent results were obtained in the horse in which only the semitendinosus muscle was affected, but in the horse in which the semimembranosus and gracilis muscles were also involved the results were less satisfactory.

Hindlimb kinematics before and after laser fibrotomy in horses with fibrotic myopathy

“…However, 2 of these cases were less than one year of age and had suspected ‘congenital’ fibrotic myopathy with characteristic gait abnormality but no recognisable fibrotic mass. In 3 other cases described in subsequent reports, semitendinosus tenotomy at its tibial insertion resulted in either improvement (2 cases) or resolution of the gait abnormality . In our experience, the semitendinosus tenotomy technique at its medial insertion has not been sufficiently effective for fully correcting clinical signs of fibrotic myopathy.…”

“…Nevertheless, surgical treatments have been described including complete resection of the abnormal tissue , transection of the fibrotic tissue with a bistoury and semitendinosus tenotomy near its medial insertion on the tibia . Reports of treatment successes and complications are variable and based upon subjective evaluation which is not as sensitive or repeatable as objective kinematic evaluation . Evaluator's bias can further compromise the reliability of subjective gait analysis .…”

Surgical treatment of semitendinosus fibrotic myopathy in an endurance horse ‐ management, complications and outcome

“…Turner and Trotter (1984) reported slightly lower mean age of 8.7 years among affected cases, although this included horses between ages 3 and 15 years. However, involvement of other hindlimb muscles has been reported, including the biceps femoris (Valentine et al 1994), gracilis (Bishop 1972) and semimembranosus muscles (Gomez-Villamandos et al 1995), the latter study reporting a case with gracilis, semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscle involvement simultaneously. However, involvement of other hindlimb muscles has been reported, including the biceps femoris (Valentine et al 1994), gracilis (Bishop 1972) and semimembranosus muscles (Gomez-Villamandos et al 1995), the latter study reporting a case with gracilis, semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscle involvement simultaneously.…”

“…Treatment of fibrotic myopathy of the semitendinosus muscle involves myoten-otomy/ectomy, my-otomy/ectomy or ten-otomy/ectomy (Bramlage et al 1985;Adams 1987;Auer 1992;Gomez-Villamandos et al 1995), along with surgical lysis of adhesions. Variable success has been achieved using different techniques, although tenotomy has been reported to result in fewer complications, with a better cosmetic appearance (Bramlage et al 1985;Auer 1992).…”

Semitendinosus Tenotomy and Myotomy

“…4 Horses with fibrosis confined to the semitendinosus muscle have a better outcome than those with additional fibrosis in the biceps femoris or semimembranosus muscles. 5 In cases where muscles other than the semitendinosus are involved, transection of fibrosis in the involved muscle may be beneficial. 1,6 COMPLICATIONS Dehiscence, seroma formation, and infection are possible but not common if the tenotomy only is performed.…”