Soft Tissue Services

Our soft tissue team uses the latest diagnostic tools, surgical techniques and technologies to treat emergency and elective cases.

Colic

We have an international reputation for the treatment of life-threatening colic cases and perform surgery on around 250 horses per year.

Rigorous clinical audit shows that our recovery rates rank with the best in the world: 80% of our surgical colic cases recover and return to their previous level of activity.

A state-of-the-art intensive care unit which opened in 2011, allows our staff to deliver optimal post-operative care for critical cases.

Urogenital

Our services range from penile surgery (partial phallectomy, en-bloc penile resection) and castration of cryptorchid horses (either laparoscopically or under general anaesthesia) through to emergency surgery for bladder rupture in foals.

We are also one of the few centres in the UK to offer lithotripsy for urinary tract calculi.   

Upper Respiratory Tract (URT)

We are one of the best-equipped hospitals in the UK for the investigation and treatment of respiratory noise, poor performance and chronic nasal discharge.

Diagnostic resources on-site include digital radiography, scintigraphy, computed tomography, exercise endoscopy and direct sinus endoscopy.

Following diagnosis, our surgeons can use the latest laser techniques to treat sedated, standing horses. If the problem is not amenable to laser techniques then the more traditional forms of URT surgery, such as prosthetic laryngoplasty (tie-back) or laryngeal advancement (tie-forward) can be performed.

Dental

Our specialist dental team works in a highly equipped, specialist dental suite that supports full examination, precision cleaning and advanced treatment.

A dedicated oral endoscope allows detailed oral examination. We have a specialist anaesthesia team to supply sedation or local analgesia as required.

The hospital's dental caseload is very varied. Typical procedures include advanced dental floating (rasping), geriatric dentistry, diastemata widening (increasing space between teeth), periodontal bridging (dental implants). infundibular restorations, oral and surgical exodontia (tooth removal) and endodontics (root canal).

Upper Respiratory Tract Procedures

Upper respiratory tract procedures using the laser include:-

  • Vocal cordectomy & ventriculectomy (‘Hobday’ procedure)
  • Resection of the aryepiglottic fold
  • Correction of epiglottic entrapment
  • Treatment of sub-epiglottic cysts
  • Guttural pouch fenestration
  • Laser palatopasty
  • Resection of pharyngeal and laryngeal granulomas / cysts