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My 25 year old gelding started having breathing problems and was scoped recently. His left flap is paralyzed. Videos of the scoping were sent to Cornell and my vet is communicating with them. From what I understand tie back surgery where Finn is laid down would be too risky at his age. They could do it standing but the Cornell vet is recommending just doing the laser surgery instead of the tie back. This would be less invasive with quicker recovery but the closed flap would only be opened 30% at the most. Do you have any experience with just doing the laser surgery? Right now Finn has flared nostrils after a 30 minute walk in the winter. I’m wondering if he will be even worse in the summer. After a 30 second trot he looks like he just finished the Kentucky Derby. He does not make noise like many roarers. He just breathes hard. I need to make a decision that will be in Finn’s best interests and hopefully allow me to ride him lightly.Do you have any experience with the outcomes of the laser surgery vs the tie back? Would it even be ethical to do the tie back at Finn’s age? Would the laser surgery even be worth doing for 30% improvement (your educated opinion)? Thank you!
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Hello mokuc,
No I do not have personal experience with laser for laryngoplasty but I have opinions about your post. First I agree with the assessment that laying down a 25 year old horse should be avoided. Second I think a 30% increase in cross dimensional area would significantly increase the amount of air flow through the larynx at a given pressure gradient. How sure is your veterinarian is that this is the cause of the exercise intolerance. It certainly is sensible but chronic lung disorders are so common in the horse, think different forms of asthma, that I would want to do all I could to rule these out before the surgery. In the end you do the surgery and then see if you can get a horse that can tolerate light exercise. Most can if your expectations are not to high.
DrO -
Hello mokuc,
No I do not have personal experience with laser for laryngoplasty but I have opinions about your post. First I agree with the assessment that laying down a 25 year old horse should be avoided. Second I think a 30% increase in cross dimensional area would significantly increase the amount of air flow through the larynx at a given pressure gradient. How sure is your veterinarian is that this is the cause of the exercise intolerance. It certainly is sensible but chronic lung disorders are so common in the horse, think different forms of asthma, that I would want to do all I could to rule these out before the surgery. In the end you do the surgery and then see if you can get a horse that can tolerate light exercise. Most can if your expectations are not to high.
DrO -
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