Practical oxygen therapy for newborn piglets

Abstract

AIMS: To evaluate the effect of a novel method of practical oxygen therapy on physiological parameters related to survival, weaning weight and preweaning mortality of neonatal piglets under commercial farm conditions. METHODS: Piglets from hyperprolific sows born with signs of asphyxia, (n=109; <6 on a score of respiration, meconium staining and activity) or very low birth weight (VLBW; n=112; <1.05 kg) were selected for the study. Approximately half of each group (n=55 VLBW piglets and n= 57 piglets with asphyxia) received 100% oxygen immediately after birth using a specially designed facemask for 45 seconds (VLBW) or 1 minute (asphyxiated). Physiological parameters (peripheral blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) blood glucose concentration and rectal temperature) were measured before oxygen treatment 5 minutes after birth (SpO2) and 24 hours later (SpO2, blood glucose concentration, temperature). Weight at birth, at 24 hours and at 21 days of age, preweaning mortality, and estimated colostrum intake were also recorded. RESULTS: A significant treatment effect on SpO2 was observed (p=0.013 and p<0.001 for VLBW and asphyxiated piglets respectively). VLBW and asphyxiated piglets that received oxygen treatment had higher SpO2 after treatment (measured 5 minutes after birth, 97.7 and 97.8% respectively) compared to immediately after birth (93.3 and 86.8% respectively) while untreated piglets showed no variation. Blood glucose concentrations increased in all piglets between birth and 2 24 hours of age (p=0.003 and p<0.001 for asphyxiated and VLBW piglets respectively) and this was higher in asphyxiated piglets that received oxygen than those that did not (5.6 (SE 0.2) mmol/L; p<0.05). Estimated colostrum intake was higher in asphyxiated (401.6 (SD 24.4) g/kg) and VLBW (374.9 (SE 23.4 g/kg) piglets that received oxygen than those that did not (273.2 (SE 24.1) g/kg; p<0.001 and 249.0 (SE 22.5) g/kg; p<0.001 respectively). Similarly weight at weaning was higher in asphyxiated (5.8 (SE 0.2) kg) and VLBW (4.9 (SE 0.2) kg) piglets that received oxygen therapy than control animals (4.9 (SE 0.2) kg;=0.005 and 4.1 (SE 0.2) kg; p=0.008 respectively). Furthermore, oxygen treatment markedly reduced preweaning mortality from 9/52 (17%) untreated to 1/57 (1.7%) oxygen-treated piglets suffering asphyxia at birth (p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Oxygen therapy improves physiological and productive parameters in piglets born with signs of asphyxia or VLBW. The incorporation of this strategy as part of the farrowing routine enhances the advantages of rearing hyperprolific sows.

Factors associated with farrowing assistance in hyperprolific sows

“…This indicates that piglets that had birth assistance might have suffered from a long duration of uterine contractions, which could have led to hypoxia. The piglets that had hypoxia had a lower ability to ingest colostrum than normal piglets [ 30 ]. Supplementation of oxygen immediately after birth in newborn piglets using a specially designed facemask for 45 s to 1 min significantly improved blood oxygen saturation from 86.8% to 97.8% and increased colostrum consumption of piglets from 273.2 to 401.6 g [ 30 ].…”

“…The piglets that had hypoxia had a lower ability to ingest colostrum than normal piglets [ 30 ]. Supplementation of oxygen immediately after birth in newborn piglets using a specially designed facemask for 45 s to 1 min significantly improved blood oxygen saturation from 86.8% to 97.8% and increased colostrum consumption of piglets from 273.2 to 401.6 g [ 30 ]. This finding indicates that oxygen supplementation can be one practical solution to improve colostrum consumption of the piglets born after manual intervention.…”

The impact of birth weight, birth order, birth asphyxia, and colostrum intake per se on growth and immunity of the suckling piglets

“…The findings of this experiment complement those of earlier studies and highlight the necessity of the development of novel strategies improving the survival and growth of asphyxiated piglets. In this context, the oxygen supply of neonatal piglets is one of the promising strategies reported in the literature; e.g., the recent study of Soraci et al 36 have demonstrated that oxygen supply improved physiological and productive parameters of piglets born with signs of asphyxia or very low birth weight. However the study of Vande Pol et al 37 have revealed that drying of piglets and oxygen supply provided no additional benefit over drying alone, which is contradicting to what reported of Soraci et al 36 and calling for more research.…”

The effect of piglet vitality, birth order, and blood lactate on the piglet growth performances and preweaning survival

“…Our findings support the notion that piglets with higher levels of umbilical cord blood lactate have lower birth weights than do piglets with lower levels. This may be due to the fact that small piglets are more likely to experience perinatal hypoxia due to placental insufficiency [ 12 , 48 ]. In addition, piglet vitality is inversely related to this asphyxiation [ 17 , 34 ].…”