Lateral Ear Resection in a dog

This description of the lateral ear resection is taken from an article written by Dr. Wendy Brooks:
Chronic ear infection can be recurring or on-going. It can lead to dizzying middle ear infections, unending headaches and pain, as well as permeating foul odor. There comes a point when simply managing the infection with cleaning solutions and oral medications is simply not enough and surgery must be considered. There are two techniques commonly used to benefit the patient with chronic otitis: the lateral ear resection and the total ear canal ablation. The lateral ear resection is the more conservative approach meant for ears not yet at their end-stage, where it is thought that more efficient cleaning and better canal ventilation will help.


The ear canal of the dog and cat consists of both a vertical portion and a horizontal portion, making a “J” shaped ear canal (darker line in above diagram). This configuration is very different from the human “horizontal only” canal which goes straight into the head. Because of the vertical portion that dogs and cats have, it is thought that infectious debris and wax has a harder time draining and this is an important factor in why dogs and cats have so many ear infections.


The lateral ear resection cuts the vertical canal in half lengthwise down to where the canal turns horizontal. In the Zepp procedure, one version of the lateral ear resection, skin is removed from the area on the outside of, or lateral to, the ear so that the dissected half of the ear canal can be folded down to form a drain board. In the LaCroix procedure, the outer (lateral) part of the vertical canal is simply removed and the new ear opening is formed from the tissue in the area The result either way creates an ear opening that is more like the human ear opening: straight in. The ear can be more easily cleaned and since ventilation is now better, the canal is less suited to incubate bacteria. This procedure is relatively simple and referral to a specialist is generally unnecessary.

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This was the case we saw today. An adult, female, Shepard mix (most likely with Sharpei) has had chronic ear infections and was known to have a very narrow ear canal. The owner was having a difficult time treating the ear and treatment was not successful. I put some picture of the before (with hair and without) and after the surgery.

Dr used a modified LaCroix procedure, exposed the horizontal ear canal and bandaged it all up so that the dog cannot shake its head.