Stent Implant for
Laryngeal Paralysis in Dogs

The 21st Century Solution

When unilateral arytenoid lateralization (tieback) surgery was first developed in the 1980s, the typewriter was the ‘gold standard’ for creating documents. 40 years later, typewriters are nowhere to be found, yet the veterinary community still cleaves to a costly 20th-century surgical procedure with significant risk factors to treat laryngeal paralysis in dogs. It‘s time to move forward into the 21st century and embrace less invasive, more efficient life-saving techniques.

Choosing to Lead

Here you can learn about the stent procedure for canine laryngeal paralysis — types of stents, procedure details, and revenue prospects for your practice. You can choose to be a leader in your community by adopting this proven 21st-century procedure to help your clients and the animals they love, as well as generate the revenue you need to run a successful business.

Background

The first silicone stent implant to treat canine laryngeal paralysis was performed by the Argentine team of María Ricart, Sergio Rodríguez and Roberto Duré. Read the Ricard/Rodríguez/Duré study 

In 2022, a follow-up study by the French team of Theron and Lahuerta-Smith was published in which a silicon Dumon stent was implanted 6 senior dogs with GOLPP. Read the Theron/Lahuerta-Smith study 

Stent Types

There are currently two laryngeal stent types to treat laryngeal paralysis in dogs: the silicone stent and the Nitinol stent.

The silicon stent is a standard Dumon stent type used since the 1990’s for airway obstruction in humans and first used to treat laryngeal paralysis in dogs in 2019.

The Dextronix Nitinol LE stent is a proprietary, patented stent product originally designed to treat human laryngeal paresis and repurposed for veterinary use.

IMPORTANT: The Dextronix DexStent-LN Nitinol wire stent has been discontinued by the manufacturer, possible due to the issues outlined below and detailed in this article. As of January 2025, the the silicone Dumon stent is the only commercially available stent product for canine laryngeal paralysis.

• The FDA has issued an advisory and report concerning Nitinol use in medical devices, specifically naming fracturing and biocompatibility as risk factors.
• Currently no devices based on this patented design are approved for human-medical use.
• Should Dextronix cease production of the proprietary delivery device, it is unclear how any currently implanted Dextronix stents could be removed.

Before implanting the Dextronix Nitinol LE product, it is strongly recommended to inquire with Dextronix about how these concerns will be resolved in the future.