Correção da estenose do ducto papilar de vacas leiteiras com instrumento cirúrgico em forma de lanceta

Abstract

Stenosis of mammary papillary duct leads to difficulties on manual milking of cows, consisting in one of the main reasons for discarding dairy cows. Eighty cows from three to eleven years of age and 30 to 60 days after calving were divided in to three groups (I, II, III), by the following aspects: G-I, control group, with healthy 40 females. G-II, 20 animals submitted to surgical procedure without any postoperative medication, and G-III 20 animals submitted to surgical procedure followed by use of gentamicin for seven days. For the surgical correction of the stenosis a tool made of stainless steel was employed. It consisted of a 15-cm handle, a diamond shaped blade of two centimeters on it longitudinal axis, one centimeter on its transverse axis and cutting lateral edges. The surgical operations were performed having the animals on standing position and replete teat. The incisions were always done once and on a single direction on only one way and at once. The animals were evaluated daily for 60 days to observe their recovery and potential postoperative complications. In this period stenosis of the teat papillary duct on two animals was observed on groups II and III, hemorrhagy on six, clinical mastitis on three, sub-clinical mastitis on ten, diffuse milk jetting on two and milk incontinence on one cow. There was no significant difference for the occurrence of either clinical or sub-clinical mastitis. The surgical procedure was effective on 87,5% of the operated cows and might be a choice for the correction of teat stenosis on dairy cows.