Ear nose and throat surgery

Laryngeal paralysis commonly affects larger breed dogs that are usually relatively old. The cause is usually not identified.

Ben, an elderly male dog initially presented with partial obstruction of the larynx caused by paralysis of the vocal folds that caused stress-related collapse and exercise intolerance. The problem was initially addressed with a “tie back” surgical procedure (see separate article in this section, and our post-operative care sheet for tie-backs in the section for owners).

Ear disease usually reflects local skin disease. Skin micro-organisms (bacteria and yeasts) love nothing more than warm moist nooks and crannies so the ear canal can make an ideal environment for them.

The soft palate is at the back of the mouth. For those who remember the Peanuts cartoons, the soft palate is the dangly bit you can see when Lucy throws her head back and yells at Charlie Brown!

A young cat was presented to us at West Midlands Referrals for closure of an oro-nasal fistula – a permanent hole between the mouth and the nose. It was uncertain how this had originated but trauma from another animal’s canine tooth during a bite was a possibility.  

Willow had upper respiratory breathing problems relating to her larynx. A tie-back procedure was unsuccessful and her breathing was becoming distressed.

Short nosed “brachycephalic” breeds are becoming more popular. This is not good news, because many of these dogs have compromised airways. In short, humans are choosing to breed dogs that can not get a good flow of air into their lungs.

Jake, a very amenable 1-year-old male cat, had a polyp in his right ear canal. This emanated from his middle ear but completely blocked his external ear canal.

Daisy presented to us at West Midlands Referrals with intermittent choking and coughing. Examination of the pharynx revealed a huge polyp which was debulked. The haemorrhage was controlled with pressure, and the histopathology will confirm the diagnosis! Regrowth is possible, even probable, but repeat surgery should be very feasible.

Gypsy had a mass in the larynx's dorsal (top) part, which is the opening to the trachea (windpipe) that delivers air to the lungs.

Georgie had a lateral wall resection (LWR) for recurrent otitis externa, external ear infection. The aim of this surgery is to increase the ventilation to the depths of the ear canal and make the environment less atrtractive to the bacterial pathogens that can otherwise colonise it.