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33rd Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings


Stream:   |   Session:
Date/Time: 30-11--0001 (00:00 - 00:00)   |   Location:
Management and prognosis of traumatic palatal clefts in cats: a retrospective study of 99 cases
Hebrard LH, Anglade LA, Pouzot-Nevoret CPN, Cachon TC*
Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire de Lyon, Vetagro-Sup, Marcy-l'Etoile, France.

Objectives:

Traumatic orofacial clefts are frequent in cats. The ideal treatment strategie patients with Traumatic cleft palates is still under debate. Some authors recommend surgical intervention to avoid poor healing of the defect. Nevertheless one could argue that, considering the good healing of many palatal clefts, conservative medical treatment should be the first line treament

Methods:

All cases of traumatic palatal clefts in cats presented at the Emergency and Intensive Care Service of the veterinary hospital in Lyon between January 2010 and May 2023 were retrospectively reviewed. Signalement, medical record, the type of management undertaken (conservative medical or surgical), the clinical progress of the animal, and the follow up and complications were recorded.

Results:

99 cat were included in this study. Young male intact cats under 4 years of age were overrepresented. The survival rate in our population was 90% after excluding euthanized or discharged animals at admission. This mortality rate was significantly associated with presence of oro-facial and neurological lesions and the type of trauma (car accidents).

Conservative management alone was chosen for 87% of cats and 13% received surgical management. Criteria for choosing between the two managementsoptions were: the type of trauma, the length of the palatal cleft, and the presence of other oro-facial lesions.

For the conservatively treated cats, the overall complication rate was 2.5%, compared to two cases that were managed surgically (15%).

Conclusions:

No significant difference was found between the survival rates and complication rates of animals treated medically and surgically. A conservative approach does not lead to higher mortality or complication rates and should be considered in cats with traumatic palatal defects.

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