Modified frontonasal sinus flap surgery in standing horses: surgical findings and outcomes of 60 cases.
Authors: Quinn G C, Kidd J A, Lane J G
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Modified Frontonasal Sinus Flap Surgery in Standing Horses Sinus disease in horses has traditionally required either general anaesthesia or complex surgical techniques under standing sedation; Quinn and colleagues challenged the assumption that bone flap preservation during frontonasal sinus surgery was necessary for acceptable cosmetic and functional outcomes. Their simplified technique, performed on 60 standing horses, replaced powered bone saws with a large skull trephine to create the sinus flap, deliberately discarding rather than replacing the bone segment. This modification substantially reduced operative complexity and time whilst maintaining successful disease resolution and healing, with outcomes comparable to or better than bone-flap-preserving approaches reported previously. The study's practical significance lies in making standing sinus surgery more accessible to practitioners without specialised equipment, whilst demonstrating that cosmetic concerns about bone removal were likely overstated—horses healed well and adapted functionally without the preserved flap. For equine surgeons and referral practitioners, this work suggests that technical simplification need not compromise clinical outcomes, potentially widening access to definitive sinus surgery for horses where general anaesthesia poses unacceptable risk.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Frontonasal sinus surgery can be successfully performed on standing horses using a simpler trephine-based approach without compromising outcomes
- •Discarding the bone flap rather than attempting to preserve it reduces surgical complexity and operative time while maintaining good results
- •This technique offers an alternative to more complex powered instrumentation for managing sinus disease in standing horses
Key Findings
- •A simplified frontonasal sinus flap technique using a large skull trephine was successfully applied to 60 standing horses
- •The modified technique discards the bone flap rather than preserving it, simplifying the surgical procedure
- •The technique achieved favorable clinical outcomes while eliminating the need for powered bone saws in standing horse surgery