Radiography as an aid in the diagnosis of traumatic reticuloperitonitis in cattle

Radiographs of the reticulum, the medical records and the surgical and post mortem findings for 151 cattle were evaluated, and the radiographic findings in animals which had no pathological changes in the cranioventral abdomen were compared with those in animals with traumatic reticuloperitonitis. Features that were found to be reliable in the diagnosis of the condition included atypically positioned foreign bodies, abnormal gas shadows in the region of the reticulum, and depressions in the cranioventral margin of the reticulum. In addition to the reticulum, the remainder of the cranioventral abdomen was also assessed radiographically. An accumulation of gas or a gas-fluid interface outside the gastrointestinal tract, and intra-abdominal masses were typical findings in cattle with traumatic reticuloperitonitis. Various parameters were used to determine the reliability of radiography of the reticulum in the diagnosis of the condition; its prevalence was 50 per cent, the sensitivity of the radiographic diagnosis was 76 per cent, the specificity was 93 per cent, the accuracy was 85 per cent, the positive predictive value was 92 per cent and the negative predictive value was 80 per cent.