The Effect of Digit Amputation or Arthrodesis Surgery on Culling and Milk Production in Holstein Dairy Cows

Common digit diseases such as sole ulcers, sole abscesses, foot rot, and white line disease may become complicated by extensive corium and laminae tissue necrosis leading to deep sepsis of the digit (Baxter, et al., 1991). Nuss and Weaver (1991) reported septic arthritis of the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint to constitute 3 to 10% of all hoof conditions. Deep infection of the digit causes severe lameness and, in herds with high incidence of lameness, economic losses from this condition may be significant.
Digit amputation and digit salvage techniques, such as arthrodesis surgery, have been performed to successfully treat deep infections of the digit (Pesja et al., 1993; Desrochers et al., 1995). The average survival time after digit amputation and arthrodesis surgery has been reported to be 13 months and 18 months, respectively (Nuss and Weaver, 1991). It has been suggested that cows undergoing digit amputation had faster returns to production compared to cows that had arthrodesis surgery performed (Nuss and Weaver, 1991). However, there were neither control cows in those studies with which to compare the survival time, nor were any data provided to support the claims that cows that had digit amputation returned to production faster than cows with ...