Survival after surgery for tracheal collapse and the effect of intrathoracic collapse on survival

To determine (1) long-term survival of dogs with tracheal collapse (TC) receiving cervical extraluminal prosthetic rings (ELR) and (2) whether intrathoracic collapse effects long-term survival of dogs receiving ELR.

Retrospective case series.

Dogs (n = 33) with TC that had ELR.

Medical records (July 2002-July 2008) were searched for TC dogs treated with ELR. Age, breed, gender, location of TC, and age at follow-up (death or censor) were recorded. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were generated.

Of 114 TC dogs, 33 had ELR. Breeds and gender were consistent with previous reports; mean (±SD) age at presentation was 6.3±2.6 years. TC was categorized as cervical or cervical and intrathoracic. All dogs had cervical TC and 15 had concurrent intrathoracic collapse; 8 of these had collapse of mainstem bronchi. Median survival time was >2500 days (median not reached) for cervical TC alone and 1500 days for cervical and intrathoracic TC with no difference in median survival time between groups (P = .26).

Dogs with TC have a median survival time of 1680 days (4.6 years) after ELR and no differences were seen when dogs had intrathoracic collapse. Intrathoracic collapse does not exclude a dog from receiving ELR.