Analysis and Comparison of the Laboratory and Ultrasonographic Findings in Cattle with Various Types of Small and Large Intestinal Ileus

The laboratory and ultrasonographic findings in 1163 cattle with one of 11 types of ileus, including caecal dilatation, compression, haemorrhagic bowel syndrome, mesenteric torsion, paralytic ileus, incarceration, intussusception, obstruction, strangulation, volvulus, and torsion of the spiral colon were compared. The prevalences of the individual laboratory and ultrasonographic findings varied greatly among the different types of ileus; hypochloraemia ranged from 98.4 to 12.4%, hypokalaemia from 98.4 to 42.4%, azotaemia from 91.9 to 38.3%, acidosis from 47.8 to 3.3%, and haemoconcentration from 71.7 to 23.2%. Ultrasonographically, dilated small intestine varied from 100 to 43.3%, intestinal atony from 98.4 to 0%, free abdominal fluid from 66.7 to 16.0%, abomasal dilatation from 44.4 to 0%, and empty poststenotic small intestine from 34.9 to 0%. The cause of the ileus was detected in only 12.0% of the cattle examined. Ultrasonography is ideally suited for the visualisation of typical signs characteristic of ileus (intestinal dilatation and intestinal atony) but less so for determining the cause. The differences among the variables can be explained primarily by the type of ileus, the duration of illness, and the localisation of the intestinal ileus.