A SURVEY ON THE USE OF MEDICATION DURING CESAREAN-SECTION IN THE COW

The caesarean section is the most important surgical intervention in b ovine practice in Belgium. In this article a survey concerning the use of medication during this operation is described and discussed. A tot al of 117 veterinarians, each performing approximately 430 caesarean s ections yearly, participated in the study. A great deal of variation w as found to exist, regarding both the types and dosages of medication used. For example, no less then five different sedatives were reported . Most practitioners prefer xylazine. A uterine relaxant is systematic ally used by only 31% of the veterinarians. Even then, most of them ad minister only half of the prescribed dosage. Lidocaine combined with a vasoconstrictor is the preferred local anaesthetic. All veterinarians but one use the local infiltration method. As for antibiotics, the ma jority of the veterinarians choose penicillin, usually in combination with an aminoglycoside for antibiotic profylaxis. Twenty-nine percent of the practitioners administer an additional antibiotic locally. The duration of the antibiotic treatment varies between 1 and 3 days. The conclusion of this investigation is that the importance of medication should not be overestimated, as the final result of the operation is d etermined mainly by good surgical skills and experience.