Diagnostic Imaging in Farm Animals

Farm animal abdominal imaging is typically reserved for investigation of urinary and gastrointestinal disease in small ruminants and pigs, although usage of ultrasound for examination of the adult bovine abdomen is increasing.

Figure 18.10 Laparoscopic images obtained via flank approach in a standing, sedated mare (A), (B), (D), and a photograph of the sectioned ovaries following laparoscopically guided ovariectomy (C). The mare had behavioural difficulties attributable to a painful left ovary. (A) The right ovary (o), oviduct (od) and uterus (u) are clearly identifiable in the right caudal part of the abdomen. The mesocolon (mc) divides the left and right caudal abdominal compartments. (B) The partially visible left ovary (o) is enlarged and lying medial to the spleen (s). The left uterine (u) horn runs caudally over the full urinary bladder (label b). (C) Both ovaries were removed and are shown following sagittal sectioning. The left ovary contains a large haemorrhagic cyst (hc), and a corpus luteum (cl) is present in the right ovary. (D) The same view as in (B) but the ovary (o) has been manipulated to lie lateral to the spleen (s) by means of an atraumatic grasping forceps (f).

and to a lesser extent abdominal and pelvic radiography are utilised to confirm diagno­sis and to assess the response to treatment of obstructive urolithiasis in goats and occa­sionally sheep.

Laparoscopic ovariectomy is routinely performed in pet pigs and has several advan­tages over traditional open ovariectomy including lower morbidity and mortality. Laparoscopic artificial insemination is the process whereby frozen semen is insemi­nated deeply into the uterine horn under laparoscopic guidance. This advanced tech­nique is undertaken by peripatetic specialists in intensive sheep-breeding outfits where synchronisation of oestrus in the ewes permits insemination of multiple ewes on the same day.

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