Long-term study of partial arytenoidectomy with primary mucosal closure in 76 Thoroughbred racehorses (1992-2006).

The research article evaluates the success and complications of a specific surgical procedure called unilateral partial arytenoidectomy with primary mucosal closure in Thoroughbred racehorses. It highlights that this procedure is effective in returning racehorses affected by arytenoid chondropathy or failed laryngoplasty to pre-surgical levels of performance.

Objective and Methods

• In this research, the primary objective is to examine the efficacy and challenges of partial arytenoidectomy, particularly in racehorses suffering from arytenoid chondropathy or those where a prior laryngoplasty wasn’t successful.
• Over a period from 1992 to 2006, 76 Thoroughbred racehorses admitted at the New Bolton Centre were chosen for the study.
• The researchers collected data from medical records including details about each horse, the abnormalities found in the larynx, surgical techniques used, and other relevant records made during the horses’ hospital stays.
• The data was then subjected to a variance analysis to assess the information on racing relative to independent variables, maintaining a level of significance of P<0.05 (a standard measure in statistics).

Results

• The primary problem was arytenoid chondropathy in 54 horses and failed laryngoplasty in 22.
• About 17% of the horses required a second surgery for the laser excision of intralaryngeal granulation present on the arytenoidectomy site.
• Out of 73 discharged horses, 82% or 60 horses returned to racing after the surgery. Approximately 63% of the horses took part in 5 or more races post-surgery.
• The median duration from the surgery to the first racing start was six months, implying that the horses required approximately half a year to fully recover and return to racing.
• Comparatively, there was no significant change observed in the average earnings per start before and after the surgery.
• No correlation was found between post-surgical earnings and factors like age, gender, lesion location, type of lesion, duration of tracheal intubation, or requirement of second surgery.

Conclusions

• Based on the study’s findings, unilateral partial arytenoidectomy with primary mucosal closure is a reliable surgical choice for Thoroughbred racehorses.
• The procedure has shown to ensure that racehorses can return to racing and achieve their pre-operative performance levels.