Caesarean section in sows Flashcards
Name the indications for a C-section
- Large foetuses
- Emphysematous foetuses
- Fetal monsters - Two headed feks
- Lacerations of the vaginal canal, which reduces the diameter of the birth canal
- Disturbed uterine contraction → deep-sided sows and cold condition
-Specific Pathogen-Free (SPF) pigs
What is Emphysematous foetuses?
When the foetus die and they start decomposing, there will gass accumulation in the skin and dilating the diameter of the piglet.
What does Specific Pathogen-Free (SPF) pigs mean?
Research pigs or high level commercial pigs that are free from a number of pathogens and this can only by maintained by C-section.
How long can we wait to do C-section before the prognosis is worsening?
12 hrs, after that it gets worse.
In the summer the prognosis is worse because everything decomposes faster.
Which anaesthesia can we use for C-sections?
General intravenous anaesthesia or lumbosacral epidural.
In case of a general anaesthesia we need to remember that everything given to the sow, also affect the piglets. The sedation should be light while the piglets are still inside and when they are out the sow will have a deeper anaesthesia.
What kind of drugs and how much to use in case of lumbosacral epidural?
15-20 ml of 2% lidocaine for an average 120-145 kg sow. NO epinephrine
Which drugs and how much do we use in case of sedation and premedication?
- 12 ml azaperone for a 250kg sow
- 12.5 ml ketamin + 5 ml ketamin/seduxen for a 250 kg sow
How many types of incision positions do we use in pigs?
Vertical incision
Walkwer insicion
Wrights incision
Linea Alba incision
What is the walkers incision?
Inside the rectus sheet
What is the Wrights incision
Outside the rectus sheet
A complication with the linea alba incision:
problem when the
sow is too big to be stable. They might
have a hernia later, total rupture.
Name the Incisions (A-C):
A. Vertical Incision
B. Walkers incision
C. Wrights incision
How would you prepare the pig for a C-section?
- Place the catheter into a major ear vein and start maintenance.
- Thoroughly scrub the are with a nylon brush with chlorhexidine and scrub 3 times.
- After scrubbing we need to disinfect, we use 70% alcohol.
- Use local anaesthesia into the incision line = field block.
- Cover the area with a large isolation drape and make a vertical incisions into the skin
What are the steps of the actual C-section?
- Make a vertical incision in the skin and then in the 3 muscle layers
- Underneath the muscle layer there is a huge layer of fat, this need to be parted to reach the peritoneum.
- Grasp the peritoneum with the forceps and puncture
- Incise it carefully in order to not destroy any organs.
- Locate the uterus by locating one piglet and try to find the bifurcation of the uterus.
- Make a longitudinal uterine incision on the greater curvature of the uterus and grasp a foetus within the uterus
- Deliver as many piglets as possible through one incision
Repeat the procedure on the opposite uterine horn. It is important to keep the uterine tissue moist during the surgery
What can be seen in late pregnancies when we cut into the peritoneum and why?
A large amount of free abdominal fluid will come out, this is there to protect the organs and foetuses for physical injuries.