Practical Head and Neck Surgery: Brachycephalics and Beyond (2 day course – Swindon)

This highly practical course is designed to help you build confidence in a wide range of head and neck surgical procedures commonly encountered in small animal practice. While brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) provides an important clinical framework throughout the course, the primary focus is on developing practical surgical skills across the ear, larynx, salivary glands, lips and upper airway.

The course begins with core head and neck procedures, allowing you to refine surgical approach, tissue handling and complication avoidance under expert guidance. You will then apply these skills within the context of brachycephalic patients, refining your objective assessment of BOAS, case selection and surgical planning. Discussion around client communication and peri-operative management is integrated throughout to support real-world decision-making.

The majority of the course is spent in hands-on practical sessions, giving you the opportunity to practise and consolidate techniques that can be transferred directly into clinical practice.

Topics to be covered include:

• Surgical assessment and planning for complex head and neck cases, including brachycephalic patients
  
• Lateral wall resection (LWR) and total ear canal ablation with lateral bulla osteotomy (TECA-LBO), including ventral bulla osteotomy
  
• Laryngeal anatomy and surgical options, including unilateral arytenoid lateralisation (‘tieback’)
  
• Temporary and permanent tracheostomy: indications, technique and complication management
  
• Salivary gland removal and management of salivary mucocoeles
  
• Lip and labial reconstruction techniques
  
• Objective assessment of BOAS patients, including emergency and routine presentations
  
• BOAS corrective procedures: nasoplasty, palatoplasty, alarplasty / alar wing resection and tonsillectomy
  
• Client communication and peri-operative decision-making in brachycephalic cases