Risk factors associated with stillbirth of piglets born from oxytocin-assisted parturitions

Abstract

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the effects of different risk factors on stillbirth of piglets born from oxytocin-assisted parturitions. Materials and Methods: Data were collected from a total of 1121 piglets born from 74 Landrace x Yorkshire crossbred sows from a herd. Logistic regression models were used to determine the associations between stillbirth and different risk factors including parity (1, 2, 3-5, and 6-10), gestation length (GL) (112-113, 114-116, and 117-119 days), litter size, birth order (BO), sex, birth interval (BI), cumulative farrowing duration, birth weight (BW), crown rump length, BW deviation, body mass index, ponderal index (PI), and the use of oxytocin during expulsive stage of farrowing. Results: The incidence of stillbirth at litter level and stillbirth rate was 59.5% (44/74) and 8.1% (89/1094), respectively. The final multivariate logistic regression selected BO, BI, PI, GL, and parity as the five most significant risk factors for stillbirth. Increased BO and BI, GL <114 and >116 days, parity 6-10, and low PI increased the stillbirth rate in piglets. Conclusion: Several factors previously determined as risks for stillbirth in exogenous oxytocin-free parturitions also existed in exogenous oxytocin-assisted parturitions. One dose of oxytocin at fairly high BO did not increase stillbirth, whereas two doses of oxytocin were potentially associated with increased values.

Non-infectious risk factors for intrapartum stillbirth in a swine farm in the North of Vietnam

“…An inverse association between GL and stillbirth has been reported in several studies [2,8,14,17]. In this study, the quadratic effect of GL corroborates the result of the previous studies [2,23].…”

“…The stillbirth rate in this study is well in a range of the previously published results [2,6,9,[14][15][16]. Proportions of non-fresh (8.0%) and prepartum stillbirth (8.8%) in this study are in agreement with that in previous work, that is, 11.5% and 5.3%, respectively [5].…”

“…Therefore, piglets with a low PI were more likely to be disproportionate and may suffer some degree of intrauterine growth retardation, resulting in pathologically impaired growth [3,4,13,19], thereby acquiring a higher risk of being intrapartum stillborn. The selection of BO as one of the most significant factors of intrapartum stillbirth rather than BI and CFD in this study agrees with the previous findings [2,3,13]. The previous reports showed that the effect of BI on stillbirth was significant only when BI exceeded 60 [20] or 90 min [21].…”

“…An inverse association between GL and stillbirth has been reported in several studies [2,8,14,17]. In this study, the quadratic effect of GL corroborates the result of the previous studies [2,23]. The association between short GL and increased intrapartum stillbirth rate may result from the relative immaturity of piglets [17].…”

Risk factors associated with dystocia in swine

“…Definition of dystocia based on birth interval [2] may significantly elevate the dystocia rate in swine. Studies have shown that birth interval is associated with birthweight, stillbirth, piglet presentation, birth order, and litter size [5][6][7]. Hence, these factors may also be associated with dystocia.…”