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The Effect of Treatment of Clinical Endometritis on Reproductive Performance in Dairy Cows

S. J. LeBlanc^*, T. F. Duffield^*, K. E. Leslie^*, K. G. Bateman^*, G. P. Keefe, J. S. Walton and W. H. Johnson^*

^* Department of Population Medicine and
Department of Animal and Poultry Science University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Department of Health Management, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada C1A 4P3

Corresponding author:
S. J. LeBlanc; e-mail:
sleblanc{at}ovc.uoguelph.ca.

The objective of this field trial was to compare the effect of intrauterine (i.u.) antibiotic or intramuscular (i.m.) prostaglandin F₂ (PGF₂) on time to pregnancy in dairy cows diagnosed with clinical endometritis between 20 and 33 days in milk (DIM). The case definition of endometritis was the presence of purulent uterine discharge or cervical diameter >7.5 cm, or the presence of muco-purulent discharge after 26 DIM. There were 316 cows with endometritis from 27 farms assigned randomly within herd to receive 500 mg of cephapirin benzathine intrauterine (i.u.), 500 µg of cloprostenol i.m., or no treatment. The rate of resolution of clinical signs 14 d after treatment was 77% and was not affected by treatment. Reproductive performance was monitored for a minimum of 7 mo after treatment. Survival analysis (multivariable proportional hazards regression) was used to measure the effect of treatment on time to pregnancy. There was no benefit of treatment of endometritis before 4 wk postpartum. Administration of PGF₂ between 20 and 26 DIM to cows with endometritis that did not have a palpable corpus luteum was associated with a significant reduction in pregnancy rate. Between 27 and 33 DIM, cows with endometritis treated with cephapirin i.u. had a significantly shorter time to pregnancy than untreated cows (hazard ratio = 1.63). In this time period, there was no difference in pregnancy rate between PGF₂ and untreated cows, but the difference in pregnancy rate between cows treated with cephapirin i.u. and with PGF₂ was not statistically significant. Treatment of postpartum endometritis should be reserved for cases diagnosed after 26 DIM, based on criteria that are associated with subsequent pregnancy rate.

Abbreviation key: CL = corpus luteum, , HR = hazard ratio, , i.u. = intrauterine

Key Words: endometritis • reproductive performance • intrauterine antibiotic • prostaglandin F₂

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				S. J. LeBlanc, T. F. Duffield, K. E. Leslie, K. G. Bateman, G. P. Keefe, J. S. Walton, and W. H. Johnson Defining and Diagnosing Postpartum Clinical Endometritis and its Impact on Reproductive Performance in Dairy Cows J Dairy Sci, September 1, 2002; 85(9): 2223 - 2236. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]