Right Paralumbar Omentopexy for the Correction of Left Displaced Abomasum

Abstract

Left displacement of the abomasum (LDA) is a very important disease of dairy cattle. Until effective and economical preventive measures are discovered veterinarians will be asked to treat a large number of these cases. The most effective treatment at present is surgical correction. Rolling is recommended only on average cows since about 50% of these cows redisplace in two to three days. This results in lost time and added expense especially if they eventually require surgery. Therefore, valuable cows are operated immediately. All of the highly successful surgical procedures for LDA involve correction of the displacement and fixation of either abomasum or omentum (1,2,3).

Cows are not fasted prior to surgery because the ketosis which most cows have would be aggravated and the displacement can be corrected with little difficulty from the right flank approach even if the rumen is full. Cows which are very dehydrated and/or suffering from other concurrent diseases such as metritis are also operated immediately. Attempts at building them up with fluid therapy and antibiotics is usually ineffective as long as the displacement exists.