Short-term effects of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome surgery on fitness and exercise in brachycephalic dogs

Juliette Goossens ^1,2* Andrea Meyer-Lindenberg ^1,2 Yury Zablotski ^1,2 Maike Schroers ^1,2

• ¹ Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany
• ² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany

As part of a standardized fitness test for brachycephalic dogs, the aim was to determine the extent to which physical fitness based on vital signs and cortisol and vasopressin concentrations in saliva can change in dogs after BOAS (brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome) surgery. For this purpose, 35 brachycephalic dogs, including 13 Pugs, 21 French Bulldogs and one English Bulldog, were included in a prospective clinical study. The preliminary examination consisted of a clinical anamnesis and a general examination. The submaximal fitness test consisted of three 5-minute runs on the treadmill followed by a recovery phase. Vital signs were monitored throughout the test and saliva samples were taken before, immediately after and 15 minutes after the test. 18 animals underwent surgery due to moderate to severe BOAS symptoms, while 17 animals that were free of symptoms were assigned to the control group. It was shown that physical fitness based on vital signs improved significantly at least one-month post-OP compared to the pre-OP situation, although the patients were still significantly less fit than the control animals that did not require BOAS surgery. No statistically significant change in cortisol and vasopressin concentrations in saliva was found. BOAS surgery can help alleviate BOAS-associated symptoms, although patients continue to have severely limited physical fitness.