Surgical approach to the equine brachial plexus.

This research study focused on crafting and refining a surgical procedure to expose the brachial plexus (a network of nerves) in ponies, ensuring minimal trauma and verifying the feasibility through one subject. The research concluded that the surgical approach from the prescapular region causing least damage and impacted the pony’s movement minimally.

Research Design

• The study involved a sample of 11 ponies for the research.
• The subject ponies were initially used to design a surgical method that would offer maximum exposure to the brachial plexus while causing minimum harm.
• In the first stage of this study, one pony was euthanized to ascertain whether surgical exposure of the brachial plexus was viable at all. The researchers deemed this necessary for ethical obligations to prevent unnecessary suffering in the case the surgical procedure was not feasible.

Surgical Approach

• The research team investigated different approaches to reach the brachial plexus.
• They found that approaching the plexus from the prescapular region (in front of the scapula or shoulder blade) caused minimal harm. The discovery led them to choose this approach for further observations.
• With this approach, the only muscle they needed to cut was the cutaneous omobrachialis. The rest of the procedure only required blunt dissection, thus reducing potential harm to a minimum.

Results & Conclusion

• In the procedure’s subsequent application on the other ten ponies, the surgical wounds healed effectively through a natural process known as ‘first intention’ (healing of a wound where the edges are directly brought together). This suggests that the body responded well to the surgery.
• A crucial factor noted was that the ponies’ gait or way of movement did not change as a result of the surgery. This implies that the procedure had not caused any substantial damage to their physical abilities, underlining the technique’s success.