Many of the surgical procedures that we perform at the New Jersey Equine Clinic can be accomplished on an “outpatient” basis.  These procedures most often are performed with sedation and local anesthesia or short-acting intravenous general anesthesia.  Shorter procedures may be done “while you wait,” while others are done on a “drop-off” basis; where you leave your horse with us while the work is done and pick up your horse later in the day as your schedule permits.  Correction of upper airway obstructions, including correction of epiglottal entrapment and removal of upper airway granuloma are examples of this type of surgery.

In the images to the right you will see a fiberoptic laser fiber inserted into the endoscope that enables our veterinarians to remove a small section of the aryepiglottic fold that was causing a partial upper airway obstruction.  A grasping forceps is placed through the opposite nostril to place the fold under tension while the laser fiber removes the abnormal tissue.