Cold-weather warfare
Trench foot is a medical condition caused by prolonged exposure of the feet to damp, unsanitary, and cold conditions at temperatures as warm as for as few as 13 hours. Exposure to these environmental conditions causes deterioration and destruction of the capillaries and leads to morbidity of the surrounding flesh. Affected feet may become numb, affected by erythema (turning red) or cyanosis (turning blue) as a result of poor blood supply, and may begin emanating a decaying odour if the early stages of necrosis (tissue death) set in. As the condition worsens, feet may also begin to swell. Advanced trench foot often involves blisters and open sores, which lead to fungal infections. If left untreated, trench foot usually results in gangrene, which may require amputation. If trench foot is treated properly, complete recovery is normal, though it is marked by severe short-term pain when feeling returns. Trench foot affected tens of thousands of soldiers engaged in trench warfare in World War I. Keeping feet warm and dry, or at least changing into warm and dry replacement footgear, is the best way to avoid trench foot.
Treatment of equine lameness
DDFT tenotomy is usually recommended in cases of laminitis and coffin bone rotation that is chronic or non-responsive to other forms of treatment. Transection of the DDFT reduces the pull on the bottom of the coffin bone, and subsequently decreases the stress placed on the laminae of the hoof. A horse will not be athletically useful following a DDFT tenotomy, with a best-case scenario of the animal returning to pasture soundness or possibly for comfortable enough for light pleasure riding. It is therefore considered a salvage procedure to improve the quality of life of the horse, often as final effort to avoid euthanasia. This procedure may be performed standing under local anesthesia. The DDFT is cut at the level of the mid-cannon or mid-pastern, although the mid-cannon is preferred to avoid the flexor tendon sheath. A DDFT tenotomy can also be used to treat severe cases of flexural limb deformity in foals, but it is also a salvage procedure and prevents the animal from any future athletic use.