Boas (Brachycephalic) Surgeries

Soft palate resection, widening stenotic nares and resection of the laryngeal saccules. These are the three ways in which we (surgically) improve the quality of life of brachycephalic dogs.

With the boom of ownership in brachycephalic dogs, we have honed our surgical expertise in BAOS surgeries. Whilst the consensus in our clinic is that breeding brachycephalic dogs is not in keeping with improving the quality of life of these breeds…there is the need to address the quality of life of the individual dog.

To a lesser or greater extent, brachycephalic dogs (such as Pugs, French Bulldogs, Chihuahua, Shit-zu, Pekingese, etc) ALL suffer from some degree of respiratory distress.

This is because, through human breeding efforts, the size of the upper respiratory has been stunted from about 15cms to about 5cms. See the comparison below and you may appreciate that all of the respiratory structures are now bunched-up in such a small space that it impedes air flow into the lungs of the animal.

As the ambient temperature rises, we all know that dogs pant to exchange/lose heat.

When we breath faster/harder we create a negative pressure inside our airways. Our trachea and air tubes (bronchii) have cartilage rings to keep them patent, for this reason (have a feel of your windpipe now).

BOAS dogs have all the extra soft tissues, which is meant to fit in a normal sized nose, flapping about in the airway. Already this impedes airflow, as breathing efforts increase, the negative pressure moves these extra soft tissues into the path of air (i.e. OXYGEN!!).

When they do that cute snoring/snorting when they breath, they are struggling to oxygenate! Not as cute is sounds. In fact, it must feel terrifying.

Post surgery, these dogs wake up much better than before they were anaesthetised. We have many good testimonials of pug owners who´s dog´s life is immeasurably happier after a BOAS surgery.