Tracheal collapse. Diagnosis and medical and surgical treatment.

Tracheal collapse remains a common clinical problem in middle-aged, small-breed dogs. Clinical signs are characteristic, and the diagnostic work-up serves to identify predisposing triggers of disease and to allow optimization of therapy for individual animals. Bronchoscopic confirmation of airway collapse aids in characterizing the extent of airway damage and allows collection of airway samples to rule out infectious or inflammatory airway disease. Once coincident diseases have been managed, cough suppressants are used to control signs and reduce chronic airway injury.