02/27/2024
What is BOAS?
BOAS stands for Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome, which is a pathological condition affecting short-nosed dogs and cats, and affects their ability to breathe, exercise, eat, sleep, play, and engage in normal activities. Some characteristics of this syndrome include narrowed nostrils, elongated and thickened soft palate, enlarged tongue, and small windpipe. These animals must increase their inspiratory effort to overcome the resistance caused by the upper airway obstruction and achieve sufficient ventilation. This increased respiratory effort generates a high negative pressure that sucks the soft tissues into the airway passage, making the tissues hyperplastic, and possibly causing the laryngeal cartilages to collapse, which further exacerbates the airway obstruction.
Multiple surgical techniques are used to help an animal with BOAS, including removal of the laryngeal saccules, soft palate resection, and bilateral alarplasty (enlarging the nostrils). Combined, these techniques help to reduce the respiratory effort of the animal and increase their quality of life.
This is the ideal scenario for a BOAS surgery. Of course, every patient is different and our surgeon decides on a case-by-case basis how to best approach each surgery.
Also just a reminder that we are a referral only hospital. If you suspect your pet requires surgical treatment, please visit your normal veterinarian who will assess your pet and send a referral to the appropriate hospital if surgery is recommended.