LASER-SURGERY FOR CORRECTION OF HEMIPLEGIA LARYNGIS IN HORSES

In this study 14 horses with hemiplegia laryngis were treated by a new technique the ''Transendoscopic Lasersurgical Resection'' of the vocal cord with che ND-YAG Laser, 11 of the 14 horses already have had surgery. In 10 cases a combination of laryngoplasty and ventriculectomy were performed and in 1 case a bilateral ventriculectomy. 3 horses had laryngeal surgery for the first time. Two of them had an incomplete and one a complete vocal cord abductor paralysis. The surgical procedure was performed in right recumbency under general anaesthesia. In 14 cases lasersurgical resection of the leftsided plica vocalis and musculus vocalis were made in a rectangular fashion (Abb. 3). This technique is described in this paper. An additional laser ventriculectomie and an incision of the musculus ventricularis was carried out on the horse with the complete paralysis. In 12 cases the noise (''roaring'') disappeared and we achieved a complete physical recovery. In 12 cases only a significant improvement of the clinical symptoms could be reached. According to the results and the advantages of this new method, it is a discussible surgical alternative to the laryngoplastic, the ventriculectomie and the arytenoidectomie, especially to correct a failed plasty with insufficient abduction.