Clinical Assessment of Four Individual Treatment for Digital Dermatitis in Dairy Cows

Objective- To find out the best choice for complete recovery of digital dermatitis using four individual topical treatments.Design- clinical field trial.Animal- 550 dairy cows.Procedure- The trials were begun in March and finished in August 2005 in a dairy farm including 550 milking cows in the vicinity of Tehran .The prevalence of digital dermatitis (DD) was 23%. 126 cows with DD were selected (Median Lameness Score of 3 “4-ordinal scale”) and allocated randomly in one of the four following groups of treatment regarding thelesion scoring of 3. A.Topical spray of lincomycin HCL (n=41), B. Topical dressing with Solka Hoofgel (n=32), C. Topical dressing with Solka Hoofgel + bandage (n=22) and D. Surgical removal of mass and following dressing of wounds with Solka Hoofgel + bandage (n=31). The measurements were statistically analyzed based on non parametric analysis of Variance “Kruskal Wallis “ test at each observation at a 0.05 level of significance and analysis of Covariance to compare the slopes of each linear equation.Results- After treatment in all groups the size of lesions decreased in a few days, especially in groups C and D. The speed of wound healing were statistically significance in group C and D the rate of wound healing is also was shown to be more grater than groups A and B.Conclusion and Clinical Relevance- Dressing of DD lesion with Solka Hoofgel when accompanied with bandage application either in active form or after surgical removal of the chronic tissues significantly reduce the lesion size with complete re-epithelialization in a short period of time.