Clinical evaluation of modified gastrocnemius tenectomy to relieve spastic paresis in adult bullocks

Thirty eight clinical cases of spastic paresis in bullocks were allotted randomly to three groups I, II and III comprised of 6, 8 and 24 animals, respectively. The traditional gastrocnemius tenotomy was done in the animals of group I. In bullocks of group II, modified gastrocnemius tenectomy was done involving transection of superficial and deep tendons of gastrocnemius muscle along with entire calcaneal tissues. Whereas in animals of group III, the same modified technique was adopted as in group II except for ‘C’ shaped calcaneal covering over the deep tendon ofihe gastrocnemius muscle was kept intact. Out of six bullocks operated by traditional tenotomy (group I), complete improvement was observed only in three cases (50%), while recurrence and complete collapse of limb were recorded in two (33.3%) and one (16.7%) animals, respectively. Few of the bullocks included in group II developed unexpected complications like slightly dropped hock with knuckling of fetlock and jerky stepping of the operated limb till one month, however, these signs vanished afterwards in most of the bullocks and complete recovery was observed in 5 bullocks (83.33%) within 30–40 days. The procedure adopted in the bullocks of group III yielded complete relief in spasticity signs in all the bullocks with notably not a single case of failure or relapse.