Surgical Correction of Umbilical Disease in Calves: A Retrospective Study of 95 Cases

95 calves aged from two days to six months received surgical treatment for umbilical disease during a period of five years. Umbilical hernias affect females more often than males and 15 of 22 calves with umbilical hernia were Holstein Friesian. The most frequently encountered disorder (28,4% of cases) is infection of the urachus. Urachitis occurred in calves less than six months of age and was accompanied by other disease such as peritonitis, polyarthritis and pneumonia and exhibited only a moderate success rate to surgical treatment. Omphalophlebitis occurred most frequently in young calves and resultat in leucocytosis, and other condition such as liver abscesses, arthritis, and pneumonia. Surgical treatment had a moderate success rate. Other umbilical infections, omphaloarteritis and omphaloarteriourachitis, were rarely diagnosed.