A comparison in 101 dairy cows of right paralumbar fossa omentopexy and right paramedian abomasopexy for treatment of left displacement of the abomasum

Abstract

Right paramedian abomasopexy and right paralumbar fossa omentopexy appear to be the most widely used means of correcting left displacement of the abomasum in dairy cattle. We compared these two procedures in a prospective study of 101 cows with uncomplicated left displaced abomasum. The surgical treatment (right paramedian abomasopexy, n = 48; or right paralumbar fossa omentopexy, n = 53) was assigned randomly. Follow-up information was obtained, at regular intervals, from one week through six months following discharge from the hospital. Milk production, reproductive performance, surgical complications, and length of time retained in the herd after surgery were obtained for each animal. There was a trend in favor of the abomasopexy group in the one-month milk yield. There were no differences between procedures either in incisional complications, other problems noted at follow-up, or in the proportion dead/culled. Based on the milk yield at one month after surgery, we concluded that there may be a slight advantage to right paramedian abomasopexy in cows with uncomplicated left displaced abomasum.