ABSTRACT
This study aims to elucidate the topographical anatomy of the carpal flexor retinaculum or palmar anular carpal ligament (PACL) in the horse. Ten specimen of the carpus of five healthy horses were studied by dissection in layers. Slices of 5 mm in thickness facilitated observation of the soft tissues. The superficial layer of the PACL subdivides into five compartments: one for the palmar nerve and the arterial and venous branches, one for only the radial artery, one for the radial vein, and one for the tendon of the radial carpal flexor muscle, and finally for the deep layer that supports all tendinous structures located palmar to the carpus, as well as the median artery and palmar medial nerve. The sections of the segmented PACL that are affected by carpal canal syndrome may vary with the aetiology of the space-occupying process. Precise anatomical knowledge of the structures may help in understanding the pathological processes and determining the most appropriate therapy.
Subject(s)
Carpus, Animal/anatomy & histology , Horses/anatomy & histology , Muscle, Skeletal/anatomy & histology , Tendons/anatomy & histology , Animals , Cadaver , Carpus, Animal/blood supply , Carpus, Animal/innervation , Female , Male , Muscle, Skeletal/blood supply , Muscle, Skeletal/innervation , Reference Values , Synovial Membrane/anatomy & histology , Tendons/blood supply , Tendons/innervationABSTRACT
The synovial structures of the M. fibularis longus were studied by dissection on 23 cat, 28 dog, 20 pig, 17 ox, 15 sheep and 17 goat limbs. Five injections with Technovit into the tarsometatarsal joint were made for each species. The dog had two tendon sheaths while all other species had only one lateral one. The mesotendon approached the tendon from the medial aspect and was fenestrated in the dog (here only in the proximal segment), pig, sheep, and goat, but in the cat and ox the fenestration was inconstant. In the area of the lateral malleolus the lateral tendon sheath narrowed (in the dog only in the proximal segment). The synovial structures on the plantar aspect in the cat, dog, pig, and sheep were formed by a recess of the tarsometatarsal joint; while in the ox and goat they formed a tendon sheath that took its origin from the same joint. The plantar recess surrounded the tendon three quarters of the way in the dog, and in cat, pig, and sheep only half way. Nomenclaturial consequences for the NAV are discussed.