Modified first or second cervical nerve transplantation technique for the treatment of recurrent laryngeal neuropathy in horses.

Summary

# Editorial Summary Recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) remains a significant performance limitation in horses, yet current surgical management—nerve-muscle pedicle implantation—has inherent limitations that prompted investigation of techniques already established in human laryngeal surgery. Rossignol and colleagues trialled a modified approach using direct cervical nerve transplantation (either C1 or C2 nerve grafts) to restore motor innervation to the laryngeal muscles, departing from conventional equine practice to evaluate whether human surgical principles could improve outcomes. The technique showed promise in establishing functional reinnervation pathways and appeared to restore some laryngeal abductor function when assessed post-operatively, offering a potentially more straightforward alternative to traditional pedicle grafting. For practitioners managing RLN cases, this work suggests that direct nerve implantation warrants further investigation as a viable surgical option that may simplify the operative approach whilst potentially improving functional recovery compared to existing methods. Further clinical validation would be needed to establish whether this technique should become standard practice, particularly regarding long-term athletic performance and durability of reinnervation.

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Key Findings

• •Direct nerve implantation technique adapted from human medicine may offer an alternative to nerve-muscle pedicle implantation for laryngeal reinnervation in horses
• •Modified first or second cervical nerve transplantation is proposed as a surgical approach for selective laryngeal reinnervation in equine patients

Conditions Studied

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