Comparative study of three surgical treatments for two forms of the clinical presentation of bovine pododermatitis

In this study, 1013 animals showing signs of clinical pododermatitis were examined and divided into five unevenly numbered groups. Affected animals in Groups I and II showed only signs of vegetative interdigital pododermatitis. The lesions were surgically removed and either protected with bandages (in Group I) or cauterized with incandescent iron (Group II). The animals in Groups III, IV, and V, showed signs of necrotic pododermatitis. These were treated with different protocols after the necrotic tissue was surgically removed: in Group III, the lesion was cauterized; in Group IV, the wound was protected with bandages; and in Group V, both the second and the third phalanges were amputated. There was a statistically significant relapse difference between Group III and Group V, as well as a difference among Group IV and Group V animals, and there were fewer relapses among the latter. The treatment used in Groups II and III proved to be efficient and inexpensive. Amputation of the phalanges was the treatment that resulted in fewer relapses among all protocols, despite its mutilating effect. The association of a local and parenteral treatment with an antibiotic agent, as well as the use of foot baths, contributed greatly to a fast recovery.