Bovine gastrointestinal surgery

Abomasal volvulus intestinal surgery.

Abstract

There is an oft quoted premise that cattle are more resistant to surgical infection than horses. It is my firm belief based on observation of abdominal surgery in both species, that this statement has no merit. In fact, the belief of this concept may be dangerous, because it may give the erroneous impression that one can achieve consistently favorable results regardless of the quality of surgical technique used. Two statements need to be remembered. First, the healthy peritoneum, regardless of species, is very forgiving. Second, surgical infections in cattle whether in the form of peritonitis or body wall infections, can be serious and fatal.