Surgical management of intrathoracic tracheal avulsion in cats: Long-term results in 9 consecutive cases

Objective-To evaluate the outcomes and complications in a consecutive serie s of cats undergoing surgical repair of intrathoracic tracheal avulsion inj uries. Study Design-Retrospective clinical study. Animals-Nine client-owned cats. Methods-The medical records of all cats undergoing surgical repair of intra thoracic tracheal avulsion injuries from 1994 to 1997 were reviewed. The re sults of physical examination, laboratory evaluations, radiography, tracheo scopy, surgery, and patient follow-up were reviewed. Complications that aro se and long-term outcome were noted. Results-Long-term resolution of clinical signs was achieved in all cats aft er resection of the damaged trachea and its repair by end-to-end anastomosi s. Follow-up periods ranged from 12 months to 2.9 years. One cat developed unilateral left-sided laryngeal paralysis 2 to 3 months after surgery; howe ver, this was transient and resolved without intervention within 6 months o f surgery. Conclusions-Surgical management of intrathoracic tracheal avulsion injuries in cats can be accomplished via a right lateral thoracotomy. Careful anest hetic technique is an integral part of the surgical procedure if a successf ul outcome is to be achieved. The incidence of both short-term and long-ter m complications was low. Care should be exercised to visualize and protect the left recurrent laryngeal nerve if postoperative iatrogenic unilateral l eft-sided laryngeal paralysis is to be prevented. Clinical Relevance-This retrospective study documents the successful surgic al correction of a series of clinical cases of intrathoracic tracheal avuls ion in cats. (C) Copyright 2000 by The American College of Veterinary Surge ons.