# Surgery of Teat and Udder in Small Ruminants: Lesions, Techniques and Outcomes of 135 Cases

## TL;DR

This study examines 135 surgical cases in sheep and goats for teat and udder issues, showing mostly good outcomes with proper post-operative care.

## Contribution

The paper provides a detailed retrospective analysis of surgical interventions for teat and udder conditions in small ruminants, an under-researched area.

## Key findings

- Most surgical procedures had good outcomes, especially when post-operative care was adequate.
- Bilateral stenotic lesions should not be overtreated, and unilateral lesions had better success rates.
- Simple procedures like thelectomies and neoplasm removals had 100% favorable outcomes.

## Abstract

Many veterinary pathological conditions affecting the teat and udder can result in chronic poor health and a negative impact on both animal welfare and production, and should require effective surgery to relieve the associated discomfort and pain. While the greater part of the available knowledge refers to bovine conditions, the literature in small ruminants is scant. The clinical presentation, surgical approach and outcomes of 135 pathological teat and udder conditions in 129 sheep and goats are here described. The cases consisted of repairs of teat lacerations and fistulas, thelectomies, teat curettages, removals of skin neoplasms and mastectomies. Overall, interventions were associated with a good prognosis, and the percentage of favorable outcomes was high; on the other hand, wound infections and dehiscence were the main complications observed in cases with poor outcomes. However, the post-operative care was considered the key to success. Repairs of recent teat lacerations represented urgent interventions. Thelectomies or skin neoplasm removals often were simple and plannable. Bilateral stenotic lesions of the canal should not be overtreated. Mastectomies required more technical knowledge but were plannable, thus predisposing the surgery to a good outcome too. Procedures can be easily undertaken on-farm with basic surgical sets and are not particularly challenging, but often require precise anatomic, surgical and anesthesiologic knowledge.

A retrospective study on 135 cases of teat and udder surgical conditions in 129 small ruminants is described. On 19 repairs of teat lacerations, a primary- and a secondary-intention healing in 13 (68%) and in 4 (21%) cases, respectively, was observed; 2 (11%) had poor response and consequent mastitis. Good outcome and first-intention healing in 100% of the fistula repairs (2 cases), thelectomies (5 cases), teat neoplasm removals (14), and mastectomies (2 cases) were observed. Among 26 teat curettage cases, all 18 (69%) unilateral lesions treatment had a good outcome versus the 8 (31%) with bilateral lesion that suffered definitive relapse. In 67 skin udder neoplasm removals, a primary- and a secondary-intention healing in 59 (88%) and in 8 (12%) cases, respectively, was observed; however, 2 of the latter suffered mastitis. These procedures are associated with a good prognosis, and the percentage of favorable outcomes was high. Wound infections and dehiscence were the main complications observed. More interest in teat and udder surgery on small ruminants should be encouraged, and farmers should be made aware that the animal can often return into production at a reasonable cost; however, their post-operative care is the key to success.