Tracheostomy in the Avian Patient

Abstract

Tracheostomy is a routine procedure used in human medicine to maintain a patent airway in cases of severe tracheal trauma, neoplasia, congenital abnormalities, or disease processes requiring long-term mechanical ventilation. Tracheostomy has been documented in veterinary medicine, including a single case in a prairie dog. However, use of this procedure in birds had not been previously described. The following report describes similar permanent tracheostomy procedures in two parrots, with slightly differing outcomes, and illustrates that tracheostomy can be considered in avian patients with nonresolving obstructive tracheal disease.