Survival of Commercial Dairy Cows after Digit Amputation or Arthrodesis Surgery

Abstract

Common digit diseases, such as sole ulcers, sole abscesses, foot rot and white line disease may become complicated by extensive corium and laminae tissue necrosis, leading to deep sepsis of the digit. Septic arthritis of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint constitutes 3 to 10% of all hoof conditions. Deep infection of the digit causes severe lameness and, in herds with high incidence oflameness, economic losses from this condition may be significant. Digit amputation is the standard treatment for deep sepsis of the bovine foot in the field. It is reported that cows that had digit amputation were retained in the herd for an average of 13 months, while cows that had arthrodesis surgery were retained for an average of 18 months. However, there were no control cows in those studies with which to compare the survival time. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of digit amputation and arthrodesis surgery on survival.