Preoperative and Postoperative L‐Lactatemia Assessment for the Prognosis of Right Abomasal Disorders in Dairy Cattle

Abstract

BackgroundPreoperative L‐lactatemia and heart rate have been suggested as prognostic indicators of outcome for cows with right dilatation of the abomasum or volvulus (RDA/AV). However, postoperative L‐lactatemia has not been assessed as a potential prognostic tool.ObjectivesTo determine the prognostic value of postoperative L‐lactatemia (LAC 2), duration of treatment (Dt), relative L‐lactatemia difference (compared with preoperative L‐lactatemia [LAC1]) ([LAC2 − LAC1]/LAC2) and change in L‐lactate over time ([LAC2 − LAC1]/Dt) as compared to preoperative findings (LAC 1 and heart rate [HR]) as prognostic factors in dairy cows with RDA/AV.AnimalsA total of 41 dairy cows were included: 19 with AV and 22 with RDA; 11 cows had a negative outcome (NO) and 30 cows had a positive outcome (PO) based on telephone follow‐up with owners 30 days after surgery.MethodsProspective cohort study. Analysis was performed using logistic regression and comparison of area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC) using nonparametric tests.ResultsLAC1 > 1.4 mmol/L or LAC2 > 2.2 mmol/L had the same accuracy with sensitivity of 100% (95% CI, 75.1–100%) and specificity of 80% (95% CI, 61.4–92.3%) for predicting NO. The relative L‐lactatemia difference ([LAC2 − LAC1]/LAC1) or lactate kinetics ([LAC2 − LAC1]/Dt) were not associated with prognosis. The AUC of the preoperative model (which included HR and lnLAC1) was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.83–1.0) and that of the postoperative model (including only lnLAC2) was 0.95 (95% CI, 0.88–1.0); these were not significantly different.Conclusions and Clinical ImportancePostoperative L‐lactatemia is helpful to predict outcome in cows with RDA/AV. The short‐term change in blood L‐lactate is not a useful prognostic indicator, at least during the period of time spent on the farm for surgery and treatment.