Endoscopic, transoral, reduction of epiglottic entrapment via wire snare technique

To describe the use of a wire snare technique for epiglottic entrapment.

Case series.

Eight adult horses.

Under general anesthesia, a modified mouth gag was placed in the oropharynx. An endoscope was passed through the gag until there was adequate visualization of the entrapped epiglottis. The entrapping mucosa was grasped with bronchoesophageal forceps and pulled rostrally, releasing the epiglottis. A custom snare was passed down the bronchoesophageal forceps to encircle the redundant subepiglottic mucosa. Tension was applied to the entrapping mucosa via the forceps as the obstetric wire was tightened at the base and the redundant mucosa (aryepiglottic fold) was excised.

The procedure was performed on 8 adult thoroughbred horses. Re-evaluation by endoscopy did not show entrapment in any horse and no horse developed complications or has had problems with performance.

This technique is a minimally invasive, competitively priced and straightforward method for resection of entrapping subepiglottic mucosa in adult horses.