The surgery session at the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) convention covered a variety of subjects that ranged from using a laser to cauterize displaced soft palates to administering butorphanol for 24 hours to ameliorate pain in the wake of colic surgery.

The leadoff presenter was Patricia Hogan, VMD, Dipl. ACVS, from New Jersey Equine Clinic. Intermittent dorsal displacement of the soft palate (DDSP) during exercise, she told her listeners, is an important performance-limiting problem in the racehorse. In the past, the condition has been treated surgically, which, in one procedure called staphlectomy, involves removal of a portion of the soft palate. However, it was theorized that because flaccidity (lacking firmness) of the soft palate can be a contributing factor, the ability to change the character of the soft palate to create fibrosis without removing any of the substance might be a treatment of choice. A laser was utilized to cauterize the soft palate, rather than remove a portion of it