Thirty minutes transport causes small intestinal acidosis in pigs

Long duration (>10 hours) transport has been described as having either adverse or no effects on porcine health. However, the effect of short duration transport on porcine health is unknown. In the present paper, pigs fed ad libitum (n = 6) were transported for 30 minutes, anaesthetised, instrumented, and cardiovascular and gastrointestinal parameters were measured. Non-transported pigs (n = 6) served as controls. No significant differences between groups were found concerning blood flow in the arteria mesenterica cranialis, heart rate, cardiac output, pulmonal blood pressure, haemoglobin content and haematocrit value. Systolic systemic blood pressure was higher (though not significant), and diastolic systemic blood pressure was significantly higher in the transported pigs than in the controls. Small intestinal pH was significantly lower in transported pigs than in control pigs. We conclude that a 30-minute transport of fed pigs results in small intestinal acidosis. As small intestinal acidosis predisposes to bacterial translocation, even short duration transport should be avoided when possible.