Fig. 2.

Surgical procedure. a, b Under general anesthesia, the right Achilles tendon was laid open by a skin incision approximately 10-mm long on the medial aspect of the right hind limb. c A 1-mm sterile punch was placed around the Achilles tendon at a distance of approximately 2 mm from the calcaneal bone. d Treated area: the skin was closed by a continuous suture and each treatment locally micro-injected