Tendonology - Specialist Tendon Treatment

THE REMARKABLE RECOVERY OF CHINA ROCK

Tendonology treatment ensures a serious tendon injury doesn’t prevent him making a return to the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup

18^th March 2011: China Rock, ran in the Cheltenham Gold Cup sustaining a rupture of the right fore superficial digital flexor tendon

 16^th March 2012: China Rock was fit to race in the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup and in fact he ran a blinder finishing 8th and more importantly, he was absolutely sound. Incredibly it was also only 302 days after sustaining such a serious injury before he returned to racing at Punchestown on 14^th January 2012.

 China’s remarkable return to racing is testament to Tendonology’s application of the latest medical technology, the imaginative skills of our remedial farrier Kevin Howes (sadly killed in a road traffic accident in October 2011) and to trainer Mouse Morris and his great team at Everardsgrange, Fethard, 

The Story

Racing in the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup China Rock was pulled up by jockey Barry Geraghty who noticed a dramatic change in the horse’s action three fences from completing the race.  It was immediately apparent that he had sustained a right fore limb internal tendon injury.   Following on-course first-aid he was transferred to Jackdaws Castle and then three days later travelled to the Tendonology treatment centre in Kent on Tuesday 22nd March 2011 where he stayed until August

China Rock competes in the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup

Summary of Injury

A catastrophic injury to the right fore SDFT.  The pre-injured highly ordered structure of the tendon has been completely destroyed.  I strongly suspect that this injury has been caused by a ‘tear’ type mechanism.

 The right fore superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) has ‘blown’ completely.   There is a massive degree of damage to the tendon from the mid-portion downwards.  The tendon’s structural architecture has lost any semblance of order and the tissue matrix has collapsed. There is a significant amount of fluid within the SDFT itself and also in the surrounding area demonstrated by the multiple hypoechogenic (black) regions on the scan image.  The internal part of the tendon is of a similar consistency the blood vessel! These appearances are well demonstrated in the longitudinal and cross-sectional images in figure one.

 The cross-sectional examination which better shows the position and extent of the injury reveals that the SDFT has a diffuse, irregular shaped border with a large section, 1cm long on the medial (inside) side absent.  This is shown in figure two.

 Given the extent of the soft-tissue swelling it is difficult to accurately comment upon the other structures in the area partly because they have been displaced by the fluid, blood and tissue debris that has infiltrated the area.

The right fore SDFT is highlighted between the arrows.  There is no recognizable tissue matrix.

Figure 2 shows a large ‘chunk’ of tendon tissue absent from the SDFT.  There is a large amount of fluid, probably blood in this area.

Download the China Rock story

Be My Royal

Another Racehorse that we worked on successfully at Tendonology was the magnificent BeMyRoyal. His website provides full details of his glorious career and is a testament to his indomitable character.

What is Tendonology?

Tendonology is specialist facility that provides a diagnostic, treatment and rehabilitation service for racehorses with tendon problems. The innovative patented treatment combined with a comprehensive exercise regime ensures 70% of horses treated return to racing.

David Chapman-Jones founder of Tendonology holds an exclusive licence to use this patented treatment technology specifically for equine use. All the intellectual property rights (IPR) derived from this application in association with this use is protected under copyright law. No other individual or company has any such permission and any breech of IPR or the licence will be prosecuted.

Tendonology ® - At Work

Our original treatment centre based at Buckholt Park, Petham, Kent was sold in February 2009.  
For period of time we continued to base our tendon treatment service at Buckholt Park.  
It has been brought to our attention that the new owner of the property (a builder Richard Sage) is taking advantage of the history of the site's use as our tendon treatment centre and is offering a tendon treatment service based on this.