Cleft palate in a horse.

This research paper reports on the diagnosis and successful surgical treatment of a seven-year-old horse with a cleft palate, a condition that had resulted in a long-term nasal discharge.

Diagnosis and Pre-operation Preparations

• The horse was presented at the clinic due to a longstanding problem with nasal discharge that was both substantial and contained food and saliva.
• Upon examination, the saddle-type gelding was found to have a cleft, or gap, in the posterior region of the soft palate, which extended forward for approximately four inches.
• Preparations for surgery included administering deep general anesthesia to the horse using coramine and nembutal. The space between the mandibles (jaws) was also shaved and disinfected.

The Surgical Procedure

• The surgery started with inserting a 16-gauge hypodermic needle medially to the mandible and lateral to the tongue into the oral cavity.
• A stainless steel wire was threaded through the needle, after which the needle was removed. This process was repeated on the other side of the tongue.
• Over the tongue, two loops of steel wire were placed, with a thin board placed underneath. This allowed an assistant to depress the tongue by pulling on the wires, giving the operator unobstructed access to the mouth.
• The cleft edges were scarified, or scraped, using a pair of 14-inch scissors. The scraped edges were then approximated using interrupted sutures causing edges to touch each other, falling in an intuitive line. No. 3 chromic catgut, an absorbable suture, was used for this.
• The suture placement took approximately three hours, and 20-inch cervical forceps were used as needle holders.

Post-operation Procedures and Recovery

• After the operation, the horse was muzzled to prevent food intake and moved to a stall. It was able to stand up four hours after the last dose of anesthesia.
• The horse was allowed water on the third day post-surgery. Wet bran was allowed on the sixth day, but no hay was allowed for two weeks.
• For three days following the operation, one million units of the antibiotic penicillin were administered daily.
• After two weeks, it was observed that the anterior two-thirds of the palate had healed, which was enough to significantly decrease the nasal discharge, except for a minimal amount of watery fluid.