Treatment of left laryngeal hemiplegia in standardbreds, using a nerve muscle pedicle graft

The efficacy of a nerve muscle pedicle (NMP) graft in restoring upper airway function was evaluated in exercising horses with induced left laryngeal hemiplegia. The NMP graft was created from the first cervical nerve and the omohyoideus muscle and transplanted into the left cricoarytenoideus dorsalis muscle. Seven adult Standardbreds were trained to exercise on a treadmill inclined at 6.38 degrees. With the horses at rest and exercising at 4.2 and 7.0 m/s, the following variables were recorded: peak inspiratory and expiratory transupper airway pressures (defined as the pressure difference between a lateral tracheal catheter and a mask catheter), peak inspiratory and expiratory air flow, inspiratory and expiratory impedance, tidal volume, minute ventilation, heart rate, and respiratory frequency. Measurements were made before left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy (LRLN), 28 days after LRLN, and 12, 24, and 52 weeks after the NMP graft (n = 5) or sham operation (n = 2). Before LRLN, exercise increased inspiratory and expiratory air flow and transupper airway pressure, whereas the impedance was unchanged. After LRLN, transupper airway inspiratory pressure and impedance were significantly greater and inspiratory air flow was significantly less than baseline values at 7.0 m/s. The sham operation did not improve airway function. Twelve weeks after insertion of the NMP graft, inspiratory impedance and inspiratory air flow were significantly different (improved) from LRLN values. Twenty-four weeks after insertion of the NMP graft, inspiratory impedance was not significantly different from LRLN values.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)