A recent study looked at whether PENS percutaneous
electrical nerve stimulation therapy is a safe and effective form of treatment
for trigeminal-mediated headshaking in horses.
At present there are limited resources to treat headshaking
in horses, and the PENS treatment is already recommended under NICE guidelines
for the safe and effective treatment of humans. The PENS treatment works by
inserting a probe which stimulates the relevant nerve according to a pattern
and frequency determined by treating humans using the same method. The
treatment is then repeated as the effects wear off.
In this study seven horses with severe headshaking were
treated. All seven coped with the treatment well, two horses had an increase in
symptoms for three days after the treatment. Six horses showed signs of
remission after the first treatment and five continued to improve after the
second treatment. The average remission time for the first treatment was 3.8
days increasing to 20 weeks after the fourth treatment.
As with humans it was not possible to achieve a 100% success
rate, however as safe treatment without side-effects it proves to be a good
solution to headshaking treatment. It is believed that the effectiveness of the
treatment increases as the operator becomes more skilled with the placement of
the probe, which could bode well for the future as this treatment becomes more
mainstream.
As an interesting aside, out of the seven horses involved in
the study, three of them managed to injure themselves over the next few months,
and were either turned away or put on box rest. Which just goes to prove that
horses are endlessly inventive with their injuries!
If you have had any experience with headshaking in horses,
please get in touch, or contact your vet with your concerns.
Roberts, V., Patel, N. and Tremaine,
W. (2015). Neuromodulation using percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for
the management of trigeminal-mediated headshaking: A safe procedure resulting
in medium-term remission in five of seven horses. Equine Vet J, 48(2),
pp.201-204.
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