Lucas Pantaleon
Right displacement abomasum (DA) and abomasal volvulus (AV) are common problems in dairy cows, despite this there is a lack of consensus about its pathogenesis and the many positions that the abomasum takes on the right side of the cow’s abdominal cavity. Mechanisms of displacement and accumulation of gas in the abomasum remains poorly understood for both left and right DA.
Lack of consensus in definitions, description methods, and the ability to correctly identify the location of the abomasal components leads to different nomenclature and definitions of right DA and AV forms. The aim of this study conducted in Spain was to describe the etiopathogenesis of right DA according to the description of the features observed in 268 cows with left DA, which were rolled to induce the movement of the abomasum from left side to the right (44% of cows developed a right DA post-rolling), to facilitate the surgical approach, and treatment via omentopexy from the right side. Further understanding the etiopathogenesis for right DA is key to improve treatment and outcomes on the affected cows.
A multitude of factors and sequence of events play a role in the development of right DA. Some of these factors are severity of dilatation and amount of gas, liquid and feed, and sand in the abomasum; size of the cow’s abdominal cavity; level of rumen fill; possibility of gas moving from the abomasum through the pylorus; gas passing from the duodenum to the jejunum; degree of previous engorgement of the different parts of the duodenum; and inclination of the ground and the way which the cow lies down and stands up.
During this study, the rolling maneuver corrected the right DA in 54.1% of the cases. The relapse rate of displacement abomasum after rolling and surgery was 1.5%, concordant with what others have reported in the literature. The most common right DA position observed in this study was a caudal displacement of the right DA in 26.1% of the cows.
There were some rare adverse effects due to the rolling maneuver, these were:
- mesenteric root volvulus in 1% of the cows
- cecocolic volvulus in 0.7% of the cows
- cecocolic torsion in 0.3% of the cows
- uterine torsion in 0.7% of the pregnant cows
- abortion in 0.3% of the pregnant cows
In this research, the total postsurgical mortality after rolling was 1.86%. This was the first study to elucidate the sequence and incidence of each right DA location and its complications. The importance of this knowledge will allow veterinarians to better assess and correct this highly prevalent dairy cow disease.
Reference
V. González-MartĂn, N. PĂ©rez-Villalobos, W. Baumgartner, and S. Astiz. 2019. An investigation into the development of right displaced abomasum by rolling 268 dairy cows with left displaced abomasum. J. Dairy Sci. 102:11268–11279.
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