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The Veterinary Record 160:171 (2007)
© 2007 British Veterinary Association

Letters

Arthrotomy and arthrodesis of the fetlock joint in cattle

R. Eddie Clutton1, Yves Moens2, Frank Gasthuys3, David Brodbelt4 and Polly Taylor5

1 President, Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists (AVA), Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, Easter Bush Veterinary Centre, Roslin, Midlothian EH25 9RG
2 Junior Vice-President, AVA, Department of Companion Animals and Horses, University of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Vienna, Austria
3 Senior Vice-President, AVA, Department of Surgery and Anaesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Gent, Salisburylaan 133, B-9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
4 Honorary Secretary, AVA, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA
5 Taylor Monroe, Gravel Head Farm, Downham Common, Little Downham, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 2TY

SIR, - Several questions arise from the article published recently in The Veterinary Record by Starke and others (2006). The authors describe arthrotomy and/or arthrodesis of the fetlock joint in three cows and one bull (weighing 540 to 726 kg and restrained in lateral recumbency on a tilt table) after the injection of procaine hydrochloride (600 mg) into the dorsal digital vein.

First, how much analgesia were the authors hoping to achieve with 0·83 to 1·1 mg/kg intravenous procaine? If, as we hope, the injection was made distal to a tourniquet, then the absence of any reference to tourniquets and/or intravenous regional analgesia in the manuscript represents either critically inadequate reporting, or poor manuscript review. In the event that tourniquets were used, it is likely that postoperative analgesia would be ephemeral, waning rapidly after tourniquet removal. That being the case, why was analgesia, in the form of flunixin at 2·2 mg/kg, withheld for one day after surgery when it would have been more effective injected preoperatively?

Finally, we wonder whether the failure to mention the use of sedative/analgesic drugs, for example, intramuscular xylazine, is another oversight on the part of the authors, or whether these animals really were restrained in lateral recumbency for an undisclosed period, during which they underwent orthopaedic surgery without the benefit of any analgesics whatsoever.

    Reference STARKE, A., KEHLER, W. & REHAGE, J. (2006) Arthrotomy and arthrodesis in the treatment of complicated arthritis of the fetlock joint in adult cattle. Veterinary Record 159,772 -777[Abstract/Free Full Text]


Related articles in The Veterinary Record:

Arthrotomy and arthrodesis of the fetlock joint in cattle
R. Eddie Clutton, Yves Moens, Frank Gasthuys, David Brodbelt, and Polly Taylor
The Veterinary Record 2007 160: 707-708. [Full Text]  




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Right arrow Articles by Clutton, R. E.
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, P.

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