Surgical Treatment of Habitual Prolapse of the Vagina in Dairy Cows

Abstract

In dairy cows, prolapse of the vagina is not a simple one in which the vagina is inverted and hangs from the vulva, but internal perineal hernia in which the urinary bladder is always involved. Since 1955 the author had performed the conventional operation for restoration on a number of cases The results obtained were not always favorable on account of severe hemorrhage and recurrence of prolapse in operated animals. Therefore, the following method of surgical operation has been developed by the author.
In a cow anesthetized through the coccygeal vertebra, the vaginal wall was pulled out of the vulva. The ventral wall of the vagina was cut in the middle between the external orifice of the uterus and the orifice of the urethra. Loose connective tissue and fat was removed from the outside of the vagina. A thick silk thread was passed deeply through one side of the cut wound, the tendon at the ventral border of the pubic bone, and the other side of the cut wound. The thread was fixed on both sides of the urinary bladder. The opening of the cut wound was closed by suture. Then the operated portion was returned to the vaginal cavity. Finally the ends of the fixed thread were fastened tightly.
As a result of this operation, the ventral wall of the vagina suppressed the neck of the urinary bladder. When the cut wound was healed, the vaginal wall prevented the urinary bladder from moving back. Up to the time of writing, 16 cases were successfully treated with this method, suffering from no disturbances afterward.