Tuesday 27 November 2012

Headshaking in Horses: New Treatment Has 50% Success Rate


ScienceDaily (Nov. 14, 2012) — Headshaking syndrome is when a horse shakes or jerks its head uncontrollably for no apparent reason. There are striking clinical similarities between facial pain syndromes in people, most notably trigeminal neuralgia, and headshaking in horses. Although some progress has been made towards both diagnosing and treating the condition in horses, the pathology of the disease remains unknown and further research is needed.

A recent study led by academics from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences and the University of Liverpool, evaluated the long-term success rate of a pioneering new surgical procedure, called caudal compression of the infraorbital nerve, where platinum coils are placed into the nerve ends within the canal to relieve the pain.

The study found this surgery could be a viable option for headshaking in horses with a long-term success rate of nearly 50 per cent. Nonetheless, researchers are continually working to find a more effective treatment method for headshaking.

Veronica Roberts, Clinical Fellow in Equine Medicine in the University's School of Veterinary Sciences, who led the study, has received a grant from the British Neuropathological Society to investigate possible focal demyelination of the nerve as a cause of headshaking in horses. The reason the Bristol research team is looking for demyelination is that it is the most common cause of trigeminal neuralgia in people. The team will collaborate with Seth Love, Professor of Neuropathology in the School of Clinical Sciences, as he has carried out work in this area in people.

1 comment:

  1. As a sufferer of Trigeminal Neuralgia I really feel for these horses, it is a very painful condition and hard to deal with in humans who can convey info verbally to a doctor. Its not called the Suicide Disease for nothing. Mine is barely tolerable even with narcotics. Sadly surgery is not an option for me.

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