FASAVA Congress 2017

Mononeuropathies the idiopathic and the bad
Peripheral nerve abnormality (neuropathy) may involve one or multiple  adjacent  peripheral nerves  (mononeuropathy or mononeuropathy multiplex)  and  may cause motor deficits,  sensory deficits or both depending  on the nerve or nerves  affected and the  cause.  Any nerve may be affected.  The clinical signs seen  include lameness or paresis, reduced muscle tone,  spinal reflex abnormality depending on nerve/s affected  and  denervation atrophy (rapid onset) .  Sensory abnormalities including pain, allodynia (abnormal sensation), self trauma and anaesthesia (loss of pain sensation)may be seen associated with some neuropathies.  Cranial nerve dysfunction is seen in specific neuropathies affecting these nerves.
Neuropathies may be the result of   trauma, compression, ischaemia , inflammation , neoplasia  or be idiopathic . Clinical presentation may be acute with severe dysfunction or may be slowly progressive over many months. The severity of clinical signs is not necessarily indicative of prognosis- either for return of function or likely progression.  For some, early recognition is the key to successful treatment and for others  time and supportive care is all that is required  for recovery.
The clinical presentation associated with peripheral neuropathies, diagnostic  considerations  and  recommendations  will be discussed using case examples.