THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF MOXIBUSTION ON DELAYED UTERINE INVOLUTION IN POSTPARTUM DAIRY-COWS

Moxibustion on 12 specific points (Keiketsu in Japanese) was applied f or treatment of delayed uterine involution in 16 cows that were diagno sed on the basis of rectal palpation and vaginoscopic examination 21 t o 35 days after parturition. The treatment was continued for three con secutive days. Other 32 cows with the delayed uterine involution were either injected intramuscularly with 25 mg PGF2alpha (17 cows) or infu sed in utero with 500 mg ampicillin (15 cows). The uterine involution following the treatment was monitored by rectal palpation and vaginosc opic examination. Milk samples were collected three times weekly and u sed for milk progesterone assay to monitor the ovarian function. No si gnificant difference was observed in the uterine involution among the groups treated with moxibustion, PGF2alpha or ampicillin. Percentages of cows with abnormal cervical mucus and bacterial isolation from cerv ical swab decreased remarkably in all groups during 4 weeks after trea tment. Forty-six percent of cows with delayed uterine involution was d iagnosed as having inactive ovaries. Percentage of cows that responded with ovulation and corpus luteum formation after moxibustion was 67 p ercent, slightly higher than those in cows treated with PGF2alpha or a mpicillin. Reproductive performance after the moxibustion was well-com parable to those after PGF2alpha or ampicillin treatment. Result indic ates that the moxibustion could be used as the alternative to PGF2alph a and antibiotics for treating delayed uterine involution in cows.