Evaluation of rectal temperature in diagnosis of puerperal metritis in dairy cows

Abstract

AbstrAct:The objective of this field trial was to evaluate the body temperature within the interval of 10 days post partum in cows with puerperal metritis, as confirmed by a clinical examination, in comparison with cows without clinical symptoms of this disease. In addition, the body temperature in cows having a purulent and putrid character of lochia was compared. Rectal temperature was measured daily in 92 randomly selected cows. The cows were examined clinically on day 10 ± 3 post partum and were divided according to the character of lochia into Group M1 (purulent lochia, n = 29), Group M2 (putrid lochia, n = 28) and Group C (normal lochia, n = 35). The number of cows with a fever (temperature > 39.0°C or > 39.5°C) at least once during 10 days post partum was higher in Groups M1 and M2 compared to Group C (86.2% and 92.9% vs. 54.3%, P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, or 41.4% and 71.4% vs. 14.3%, P < 0.05 and P < 0.001). In addition, there was a higher number of cows with a temperature > 39.5°C in Group M2 in comparison with Group M1 (P < 0.05). More cows showed consistent temperatures > 39.0°C for three days or > 39.5°C for two days in Group M2 compared to Group C (42.9% vs. 8.6%, P < 0.01 or 25.0% vs. 2.9%, P < 0.05). Average daily temperatures were higher in Group M2 compared to Group C on Days 1, 3, 5 and 7 (P < 0.05) as well as on Days 2 and 6 (P < 0.01) post partum. The results reveal the following: higher incidence of body temperature > 39.0°C in cows with puerperal metritis; risk period for fever from Day 3 to Day 7 post partum; higher incidence of fever in cows with putrid lochia compared to cows with purulent lochia; body temperature > 39.5°C being a more accurate indicator of puerperal metritis than temperature > 39.0°C. Despite that, the occurrence of fever was irregular. In conclusion, measurement of body temperature does not represent a sufficiently accurate diagnostic method for puerperal metritis although it may be considered a useful indicator for assessment of the severity of the disease.

Body temperature in early postpartum dairy cows

“…Although a gold standard for the definition of uterine diseases does not exist [6] and test characteristics have not been sufficiently described [35] the results of this study provide first evidence that the combination of BT and VD is reasonable for the definition of puerperal metritis. Further research should evaluate if BT can help to determine the severity of disease as proposed earlier [36]. This might help to discriminate cows with puerperal metritis that will benefit from antibiotic treatment.…”

A critical evaluation of diagnostic methods used to identify dairy cows with acute post-partum metritis in the current literature

“…While the assessment of the general condition is recommended as part of a clinical examination (Jackson & Cockcroft, 2002) it is a subjective criterion that is difficult to validate. External signs of toxaemia, potentially occurring in APM, are lacking enough accuracy since they do not appear constantly (Paleniki et al 2009).…”

Factors associated with body temperature of healthy Holstein dairy cows during the first 10 days in milk

“…Daily evaluation of RT is a common component of monitoring protocols designed to facilitate early identification and management of post-partum complications in dairy cows (Smith & Risco, 2005). Rectal temperature, however, is not always an accurate indicator of infection (Palenik et al 2009) and a notable frequency of type I (fever when the animal is actually healthy) and type II (no fever when the animal is actually sick) errors has been reported (Kristula et al 2001; Wagner et al 2008). While the reference range of BT for cattle is consistently reported to be 38·6±0·5°C (Radostits et al 2000) or 38·7±0·8°C (Wenz et al 2011) the threshold of RT utilized to distinguish diseased from healthy post-partum cows varies considerably from >39·2°C (Smith et al 1998) to >39·5°C (Drillich et al 2001; Chenault et al 2004) and >39·7°C (Overton et al 2003).…”

“…As stated previously (Sheldon & Dobson, 2004; Sheldon et al 2004; Sheldon et al 2006) pyrexia is not consistently associated with puerperal metritis even though it correlates with the presence of uterine pathogens and the fact that febrile animals have higher concentrations of acute phase proteins. Moreover, it has been postulated that the occurrence of fever is irregular and the measurements of BT conducted once a day for 10 d post partum does not represent a sufficiently accurate diagnostic approach for puerperal metritis, but might be a useful indicator for the assessment of the severity of the disease (Palenik et al 2009).…”