Small Animal Soft Tissue Surgery: Nasal Disease, URT Disease Flashcards
What clinical signs will an animal with chronic nasal disease present with?
Sneezing
Snoring or increased respiratory noise
Nasal discharge
Epistaxis- nose bleed
Facial pain
What are some common causes of acute nasal disease?
Nasal foreign body: in cats and dogs, often present with paroxysmal sneezing and facial irritation
Viral upper respiratory tract infection (in cats)
Allergic/irritant rhinitis
Tooth root abscesses: can present as nasal discharge if they rupture internally into the nasal cavity
What can cause chronic nasal disease?
- Any cause of acute nasal disease if not treated
- Feline rhinotracheitis: commenest cause of chronic rhinitis in cats
- Neoplasia
- Fungal rhintis- aspergillosis in dogs, cryptococcosis in cats
- Lymphocytic/plasmacytic rhinitis
Describe how to do a clinical exam for the investiagation of nasal disease
- Visually inspect head from front and above for asymmetry
- Assess the nares and nasal planum for discharge, crusting, ulceration or depigmentation
- Palpate the maxilla, zygomatic are and frontal bones for pain, swelling or soft areas (these may be associated with lysis of the underlying bone)
- Retropulse both globes- inability indicates a space occupying lesion in the retrobulbar space
- Assess nasal air flow with beice of fabric or hair infront of nare
- Examine the oral cavity for evidence of dental disease, oronasal fistulae, palate defects or ventral deviation of the palate
- Palpate the submandibular lymph nodes
What diagnostic blood tests can be done for the investigation of nasal disease?
Blood tests
- Routine haematology and biochemistry screens to look for evidence of systemic disease
- Clotting profile if epistaxis is the only clinical sign, has been severe of there is evidence of haemorrhage
- Serological testinc gor aspergillus fumigatus and cryptococcus neoformans
How can virology of nasal diseases be tested?
Conjuntival, nasal or pharyngeal swabs
What different kinds of imaging can be used for investigation of nasal disease?
Radiography- lateral radiographs, dorsoventral intraoral views and the rostrocaudal view are most useful- dental may be necessary, thoracic to look for metastases
Advanced imaging- computed tomography is used extensively for diagnosis as it avoids the difficulty of interpreting radiographs of the skull and nasal cavity
How is rhinoscopy performed and what can it diagnose?
Both nasal cavities can be examined with rigid or flexible endoscopy
Can show mucosal lesions, masses and foreign bodies
Flexible endoscopy can also be used to examine the nasopharnyx and choanae by retroflexing endocscope around the caudal end of the soft palate
How can a nasal biopsy be performed?
If been done blind where should not be biopsied?
Can be performed blind or with rhinoscopic guidance, perform a clotting profile as biopsy will cause haemorrhage
Rhinoscopid- with flexible endoscope and biopsy forceps passed through the rhinoscope or rigid cup
Same forceps for blind biopsy but no not biopsy caudal to medial canthus of the eye to avoid damage to the cribriform plate
What should be done if haemorrhage after nasal biopsy is prolonged?
If is prolonged or severe you can flush the nasal cavity with ice-cold saline or place an icepack on the maxilla on the affected side to cause vasocontrcition
Or pack the nasal cavity with gauze
What can fine needle aspiration, nasal swabs and exploratory rhinotomy be used for in diagnosis of nasal disease?
FNA- aspirate the mandibular and/or retrophargeal lymphnodes if they are enlarged or firm
Nasal swabs- bacterial culture and sensitivity testing and cytology
Exploratory rhinotomy is the last resort
What fungi usually cause fungal rhinosinusitis in cats and dogs?
What signalment is common?
What are the clinical signs?
Fungi- aspergillus fumigatus infection in dogs, fungal rhinitis rare in cats usually cyptococcus neoformans
Signalment- usually young to middle aged medium or large breed dogs
Clinical signs- causes extensive damage to turbinates:
- Nasal discharge- usually mucopurulent, epistaxis is frequent finding
- Facial pain
- Ulceration and depigmentation of the nasal planum
- Dullness and depression
How is fungal rhinosinustis diagnosed?
- History and clinical signs
- Serology- false negatives are frequent, fale positives will occur
- Radiography- show destruction of the turbinate bones with increased radioleucencty and increased fluid density in the nasal cavity due to disdharge
- CT- more sensitive for detection of destructive rhinitis
- Rhinoscopy- reveals turbinate destruction and possibly visible fungal plaques and allows biopsies
- Histopathology- identification of fungal hyphae in nasal biopsies is the gold standard for diagnosis of funcal rhinitis
How is fungal rhinosinusitis treated?
Oral antifungals are largely ineffective- requiring several month of therapy with only an approximate 50% cure rate
Topical treatment is most successful:
Trepination of the frontal sinuses and flushing with sterile saline followed by packing of the sinuses/nasal cavity with clotrimazole cream
Non-invasive smoking of the nasal cavity with clotrimazole soultion via catheters placed in the nasal cavity with foley catheters used to block the nares and nasopharnx to allow retention of the liquid
What tumours often infected the nasal cavity?
A variety of mostly malignant tumours may affect the nasal cavity
Adenocarcinoma, oteosarcoma, squamous cell carcinoma, fibrosarcoma and lymphoma
What is the normal signalment and clinical signs of nasal neoplasia?
Signalment- usually older medium or large breed dogs
Clinical signs
- Reduced nasal airflow
- Nasal discharge
- Facial swelling or distorsion
- Palate welling or distorsion
- Exopthalmos due to invasion into the retrobulbar space
- Neurological signs due to extension through the cribform plate
How is nasal neoplasia diagnosed?
- History and clinical signs
- Diagnostic imaging: radiography or CT may reveal a soft tissue/fluid density mass in the nasal cavity, turbinate destruction or lysis of the nasal septum, palate or maxilla
- Rhinoscopy and biopsy: take care when obtaining biopsies that you take a large enough sample to ensure you do not biopsy only the normal mucosa overlying the mass
How is nasal neoplasia treated?
Radiation therapy is the most effective treatmenr for most nasal tumours although it usually only extends the animals survival time/improves quality of life rather than being curative
Chemotherapy for nasal lymphoma
Palliative treatment with antibacterials, analgesics and anti-inflammatories if other treatments are not available or declined by owner
What is non-infectious inflammatory rhinitis also known as?
Lymphocytic or plasmacytic rhinits
How is non-infectious inflammatory rhinitis diagnosed?
History and clinical signs
Diagnostic imaging: radiography or computed topography may reveal mild tubrinate loss and increased soft tissue density due to discharge in the nasal cavity
Rhinoscopy and biopsy will allow histopathological diagnosis of lymphocytic/plasmactic infilatration of nasal mucosa, possibly with eosinophils and secondary bacterial infection and neutrophilic inflammation
How is lymphocytic inflammatory rhintis treated?
Rarely cured, often long term combination of:
- Environmental modification: minimisation of exposure to possible allergens or irritants by ventilation, humidifying and cleaning
- Instillation of saline into the nares to liquifty and clear nasal passage
- Intermittent nasal flushes
- Anti-inflammatories
- Antibacterials
- Mucolytics
- Testing for and eliminiation of environmental or dietary allergens may be useful
What are the clinical signs of a nasal foreign body?
How is it diagnosed?
Clinical signs
- Sudden onset
- Sneezing
- Distress
- Eventually may cause purulent discharge
Diagnosis
- History and clinical signs
- Rhinoscopy
- Diagnostic imaging- radiography or computed tomography may reveal the foreign body- chronic localised destructive rhinitis
- Exploratory rhinotomy
How are nasal foreign bodies treated?
Nasal flushing to dislodge the foreign body
Pack the common pharynx with swabs and examine them for foreign body post-flushing
Endoscopic removal
Rostral retraction of the soft palate and retrieval with forceps for glass blades in cats
Rhinotomy if the above is not successful
How can dental disease be diagnosed and treated?
Perform a throrough dental examination under anaesthesia in nasal discharge cases
Affected patients usually middle aged or older
Extraction of affected teeth with concurrent antibiotic therapy is usually curative
What is usually the cause of bacterial rhinitis?
Primary bacterial rhinits is rare in cats and dogs- usually secondary to another nasal disease
Nasal flushed rarely offer diagnostic value
What is a rhinotomy?
What different approaches are used?
Surgical exploration of the nasal cavity-
dorsal and ventral approaches are described for removal of foreign bodies, masses or tubinectomy for treatment of refractory rhinitis
Dorsal approach can be extended caudally to give access to the frontal sinuses
Why are rhinotomy surgerys often the last option for nasal disease?
Rhinotomy risks significant complications including life threatening haemorrhage
Application of a tourniquet or ligation of the common carotid may be neccessary
Whole blood should be available to transfuse the patient if required
What is BOS?
Brachycephalic obstructive airyway syndrome
What are the primary components of BOS?
What does this lead to?
Primary components-
- Overlong soft palate
- Stenotic nares
- Tracheal and laryngeal hypoplasia
Causes upper airway obstruction, increased respiratory effort and marked negatvie pharyngeal and laryngeal pressures on inspiration
What are the secondary changes of BOS?
Tonsillar enlargment/protrusion of tonsils from crypts
Laryngeal collapse- eversion of the laryngeal sacules
Tracheal collapse
All further restrict airflow
What are the clinical signs of BOS?
- Marked inspiratory noise- stertor
- Dyspnoea and increased respiratory effort
- Snoring or sleep apnoea
- Excercise intolerance
- Cyanosis
- Fainting or collapse
- Gagging or dysphagia
- Regurgitation
- Cough, dullness, pyrexia in patients with secondary aspiration pneumonia
How is BOS diagnosed?
Breed, history and clinical signs
Examination of the airway under ligh anaesthesia to assess:
- Tonsil size and protrusion
- Soft palate- just overlap the tip of the epiglottis
- Larynx- look for laryngeal collapse
Radiography to assess:
- Pharyngeal airway
- Tracheal diameter
- Presence of signs of aspiration pneumonia
- Other causes of airway obstruction