Section: Follow-Up
Outcome
Prosthetic laryngoplasty is associated with a 48 – 90% chance of restoring normal airway function. The success rate is highest in non-racing individuals. In racehorses the loss of even 1-second in time can be the difference between winning a race or losing it. And therefore standards for success are more stringent.
There is a 60 to 80% chance of eliminating the respiratory noise.
Ten percent of the horses following prosthetic laryngoplasty will develop a chronic cough.
One percent of the horses following prosthetic laryngoplasty will die secondary to aspiration pneumonia.
Other complications associated with the prosthetic laryngoplasty procedure include failure of the repair by either breakage of the permanent suture or the suture pulling through the cartilages of the larynx it was placed through. Repair by performing a second prosthetic laryngoplasty surgery is generally not successful.
