Surgical Repair of Cleft Palate in the Horse

Abstract

SUMMARY Surgical repair of a cleft palate was carried out in three horses. Mandibular symphysiotomy allowed adequate exposure of the defect. The first subject, a young foal died from inhalation pneumonia but the other two made satisfactory recoveries. The problems of closure of the lip and symphysis are discussed. RÉSUMÉ Cette correction fut tentée chez trois chevaux. On pratiqua une symphysiotomie maxillaire afin d'élargir la voie d'accès. Le premier animal mourut de pneumonie secondaire. Les deux autres animaux guérirent. Les techniques de fermeture de la symphyse et de la lèvre sont indiquées. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die chirurgische Behandlung eines Wolfsrachens wurde bei drei Pferden vorgenommen. Eine mandibuläre Symphysiotomie erlaubte einen genügenden Zugang zum Defekt. Der erste Patient, ein junges Fohlen, starb an einer Verschluckpneumonie, die beiden andern erholten sich befriedigend. Die Probleme des Verschlusses von Lippe und Symphyse werden diskutiert.

Congenital defects of the soft palate in 15 mature horses

“…Jones et al . suggest that if >20% of the soft palate tissue is missing, repair should not be attempted. Three of the largest surgical case series all record a very high surgical failure rate (66–100% of cases had dehiscence of the palate and/or formation of oropharyngeal fistulae), including a 33–83% overall mortality rate , attributable to complications of surgery such as dehiscence of the surgical site, mandibular osteitis and osteomyelitis, continued dysphagia, aspiration pneumonia, and ill thrift.…”

“…Cleft palate (palatoschisis) is a congenital condition, reportedly occurring in 0.1-0.8% of foals [9][10][11] resulting from embryological failure of the lateral palatine processes to fuse on the midline [12]. Fusion of the palatal folds, once they assume the horizontal position in early fetal life, takes place rostro-caudally from the incisive foramen [4]. Despite some having quite extensive palatal defects, all of the horses in this series had survived until maturity and were reported to have relatively mild clinical signs associated with their palatal defects.…”

Evaluation of survival rate and athletic ability after nonsurgical or surgical treatment of cleft palate in horses: 55 cases (1986–2008)

“…1,2,4,7,8,16 The overall complication rate (65%) following surgery (nasal discharge, suture discharge, wire breakage at the mandibular symphysis, and suture dehiscence of the lip) was less than rates of up to 10 of 11 horses with complications reported in a previous study. 1,2,4,7,8,16 The overall complication rate (65%) following surgery (nasal discharge, suture discharge, wire breakage at the mandibular symphysis, and suture dehiscence of the lip) was less than rates of up to 10 of 11 horses with complications reported in a previous study.…”

Possibilities and limitations of minimal invasiv surgery in upper airway diseases of the horse

“…futtrigen Nasenaus-142 fluß charakterisiert ist, und deren maximalinvasive chirurgische Therapie nur in Einzelfällen zu einem befriedigenden Resultat geführ1 hat (Jones et al, 1975;Mason et al;1977). Bei transendoskopischen Therapieversuchen oder aber auch bei Operationen unter endoskopischer Kontrolle konnte bisher keine dauerhafte Schließung der Gaumenspalte erzielt werden.…”