Reliability of ultrasonographic examination of the large intestine in healthy cows

The aim of this study was to assess the usefulness of ultrasonographic examination of the large intestine in 10 clinically healthy Jersey/Red Sindhi crossbred cows. The area extending from the tuber coxae to the 6th intercostal space (ICS) and from the lumbar transverse processes to the linea alba on the right side was shaved. An imaginary line was drawn from the distal third of the femur up to the 8th ICS parallel to the longitudinal axis of the cow. The large intestine was scanned dorsal to this imaginary line. Only the near wall of the large intestine adjacent to the abdominal wall could be imaged ultrasonographically. Based on the topographical anatomy, the ultrasonographic images of the caecum and the proximal loop of the ascending colon (PLAC), resembling the ‘arc of a circle’, were observed in the mid to dorsal right paralumbar fossa and the 12th ICS; however, the caecum and the PLAC could not be differentiated with certainty using ultrasonography. Similarly, the ultrasonographic images of the spiral loop of the ascending colon (SLAC), resembling a ‘cycloid’, could be imaged through the 12th to 11th ICSs and in the dorsal right paralumbar fossa; yet, ultrasonographically, it was difficult to differentiate the SLAC from the descending loop of the ascending colon, transverse colon, and descending colon, respectively. The differences (qualitative and quantitative) in the degrees of curvatures of various ultrasonographic images of parts of the large intestine were also not helpful. In conclusion, ultrasonographic imaging of various parts of the bovine large intestine should be interpreted with caution.