Neonatal asphyxia in calves: diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis

This review describes the latest methods in diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis of neonatal asphyxia in calves. In practice the tentative diagnosis of asphyxia in calves is based on clinical signs. The possibilities of treatments are limited. In calves with early asphyxia the most important treatment is the immediate reanimation of the patient. Acidosis is usually treated with an infusion of sodium carbonate in combination with glucose. The efficacy of this treatment is debatable. Future studies should focus on the efficacy of other buffer substances (e. g. carbicarb) as an alternative therapy. For prevention of the early form of asphyxia, dystocia should be avoided. The late form of asphyxia which is due to a lack of surfactant in pre-term calves, cannot be influenced pharmacologically once the calves are born. As a method of prevention, repeated treatments of the dam with low doses of dexamethasone during the 8th month of pregnancy, has been described for cases in which severe illness of the dam requires the termination of pregnancy.