Ultrasonographic Appearance of Bovine Coxofemoral Luxation in Different Directions

Abstract

Coxofemoral luxation is common in cattle and prognosis is very guarded or poor. Diagnosis is generally based on thorough physical examination by identifying the structure of the hip, but an accurate diagnosis can be challenging, especially in heavy and recumbent cows because large muscle mass covering the pelvis and hip makes palpation of the bony structures difficult. In cattle practice, ultrasound has been widely used as an important ancillary test for a more accurate diagnosis and avoidance of unnecessary treatment. The purpose of this report is to describe ultrasonographic features of twenty two dairy cows (3-7 years) with coxofemoral luxation in three different directions. Five cows with craniodorsal, six with caudodorsal, and eleven with caudoventral luxation were examined ultrasonographically. Only three cows were able to stand and eleven exhibited asymmetry of the hip upon external examination of the hindlimbs. Sonographic findings on the dorsolateral view of the hip in standing and laterally recumbent cows invariably included the ball-shaped femoral head outside the acetabulum in dorsal luxations and heterechoic empty joint cavity of the acetabulum in ventral luxation. On the ventrodorsal view for dorsal recumbency with the frog-leg position, either luxated femoral head or empty acetabular cavity was visible in fifteen examined cows in the three different directions of luxation, but the femoral head of the caudodorsal luxation was translated caudoventrally to the acetabulum owing to severe soft tissue damage around the acetabulum. Transrectal ultrasonography of the caudoventral luxation revealed the ball of the femoral head in or ventral to the obturator foramen with varying amounts of fibrin deposit on it. Ultrasonography can be used to make a definitive diagnosis of coxofemoral luxation in three different directions in recumbent cows, as well as standing cows.