Protocol of the Caesarean Section as Performed in Daily Bovine Practice in Belgium

Abstract

In the early part of the 20th century, veterinarians began to perform Caesarean section (CS) in cows. At first, it was a final remedy to save the calf and/or the cow in more complicated obstetrical cases. As in Belgium, the Belgian Blue (BB) breed has become the predominant beef breed, CS are currently performed on a routine basis in daily practice. The overwhelming success of the breed is based on its hypermuscularity and exceptional carcass characteristics with high killing out (>70%). These and other characteristics made the breed popular and newborn animals valuable. Consequently, farmers do not want to take any risk of losing the calf during birth. This, together with the fact that bovine practitioners perform CS successfully on a routine basis, has made CS an elective operation. It is, however, important to remember that CS is still a major abdominal operation and that complications are not uncommon both during and after the operation. To end up with a good success rate, it is very important to follow a high-quality and sterile surgical procedure. The current paper describes the standard protocol by which CS are performed by the veterinarians of the Ambulatory Clinic of the Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics, and Herd Health of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Ghent (Belgium). The aim of the article is to provide a successful protocol as regards CS. We especially focus on those factors which are known to be limiting for the success of the surgery and highlight the most recent recommendations to optimize the outcome of the operation.

Analysis of body measurements of newborn purebred Belgian Blue calves

“…As a consequence, in general, veterinary practice, elective caesarean operations (CSs) are performed in 95% to 99% of purebred BB calvings, without any attempt to deliver per vaginam in the purebred BB in Belgium at calving (Kolkman et al, 2007), sire selection based on calving score index cannot be done as the tools for constructing such indices in the BB breed do not yet exist. According to the veterinary practioners who attend such calvings, the so-called 'hip-lock', mainly occur at the birth of purebred female BB calves, as these calves are said to have relatively smaller fore, and a significantly larger hindquarters.…”

Evaluation of the Rice pelvimeter for measuring pelvic area in double muscled Belgian Blue cows

“…Besides age, conformation and fatness grades, the moderate correlation between the measurements can also be explained by straining of the animals, the removal of the fat and connective tissue after splitting the carcass and the hypermuscularity of the BB-breed. In Belgium, because of the high value of the calves and the relatively low price of the CS, nearly all BB-cows are nowadays delivered by CS (Kolkman et al, 2007). However, ethical criticism of this method of managing parturition is increasing.…”

“…This selection for the double muscled conformation has created incompatibility between the extreme fetal muscle development and growth and the pelvic canal of the dam. As a result, there is a high incidence of dystocia and surgical management of parturition in the pure breed (Kolkman et al, 2007). Such elective caesarean sections (CS) pose serious ethical questions which limits the use of this exceptional breed for beef production to a large extent.…”

Assessment of Differences in Some Indicators of Pain in Double Muscled Belgian Blue Cows Following Naturally Calving vs Caesarean Section

“…2001). In Belgium, where the cost of a caesarean section (CS) is very low and the price of the calf relatively high, where veterinary practitioners can easily be reached and are very experienced in performing CS, 95–99.9% of the double muscled BB cows are delivered by CS (Hanset 2002; Kolkman et al. 2007).…”

“…Although veterinarians in Belgium are very well experienced in performing a CS, it remains a major abdominal operation performed in a contaminated environment and hence, it cannot be considered a sterile surgical procedure. As the success rate of CS and thus its impact on animal welfare mainly depends on the operation technique, it is imperative to perform the surgical procedure according to recognised best practice (Mijten 1994; Kolkman et al. 2007).…”