Risk factors for complicated perioperative recovery in dogs undergoing staphylectomy or folded flap palatoplasty: Seventy‐six cases (2018–2022)

Abstract Objective To analyze risk factors for complicated perioperative recovery of dogs undergoing either staphylectomy or folded flap palatoplasty. Study design Retrospective study. Animals Seventy‐six client‐owned dogs. Methods Medical records of dogs that underwent either staphylectomy or folded flap palatoplasty were reviewed for signalment, brachycephalic risk (BRisk) score, history of gastrointestinal signs, laryngeal collapse grade, presence of preoperative aspiration pneumonia, intraoperative respiratory and cardiovascular complications, length of general anesthesia, number of corrected brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) components, and gastrointestinal and respiratory postoperative complications. Complicated recovery was defined as requirement for prolonged oxygen treatment and/or tracheostomy or perioperative death. Penalized logistic regression was used to identify risk factors. Results Seventy‐six dogs were enrolled in the study. Multivariate penalized logistic regression identified four risk factors for complicated recovery. These include surgery type ( p = .0002), age ( p = .0113), laryngeal collapse grade >2 ( p < .0001) and length of general anesthesia ( p = .0051). Conclusions In this population, dogs that had staphylectomy, increasing age, laryngeal collapse grade >2 and increasing length of general anesthesia were at increased risk for perioperative complicated recovery. Clinical significance The results of this study identified risk factors for perioperative complicated recovery in dogs undergoing elongated soft palate correction and may assist in surgical planning and early prediction of complications.