Qualitative assessment of corticosteroid cervical articular facet injection in symptomatic horses

Cervical stenotic myelopathy (CSM) is the most common cause of noninfectious spinal cord ataxia in horses. Intra-articular injection of corticosteroids into the facet joints of horses with CSM may relieve clinical signs of the disease process. However, there is a paucity of literature regarding the efficacy of facet injection therapy in horses with CSM. This retrospective study describes the return to normal function or improvement in performance of horses after ultrasound-guided cervical facet injection that had previously shown signs of ataxia, obscure lameness or neck pain, prior to injection.