J Vet Sci. 2008 Mar;9(1):117-119   
 

Acupuncture treatment for idiopathic Horner's syndrome in a dog

Sung-Jin Cho1,3, Okjin Kim1,2,*

 

1Animal Disease Research Unit, College of Life Science and Natural Resources, and
2Center for Animal Resources Development, Wonkwang University, Iksan 570-749, Korea
3Family Animal Clinic, Gunsan 573-351, Korea

* kimoj@wonkwang.ac.kr

 

A one-year-old female English Cocker Spaniel dog with idiopathic Horner's Syndrome is described. The specific clinical signs in this specimen were miosis, ptosis, enophthalmos, and prolapsed nictitans for 2 days following sudden onset. According to history taking, ophthalmic, neurological, and radiological examination, the patient was diagnosed with idiopathic Horner's syndrome. Manual acupuncture treatment was applied to the dog on local points two times in 2 days. The local acupoints were ST-4 (Di Chang) and GB-1 (Tong Zi Liao). The day after the initial acupuncture treatment, clinical signs related to idiopathic Horner's syndrome had almost disappeared. The day after the second treatment, specific clinical signs were completely absent. During this period, the dog did not receive any orthodox treatment. Thus, it is suggested that manual acupuncture might be an effective therapy for idiopathic Horner's syndrome.