Kester E, Holzhauer M, Frankena K
Qdossier/eCTDconsultancy, Doctor Ringersstraat 38, 5144 RZ Waalwijk, The Netherlands.
GD Animal Health Service, P.O. Box 9, 7400 AA Deventer, The Netherlands.
Vet J. 2014 Nov;202(2):222-8. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2014.07.004. Epub 2014 Jul 15.
This article reviews the literature on hock lesions in dairy cattle, focusing in particular on their prevalence and associated clinical signs, as well as the scoring systems used to assess them and the data on risk factors. This analysis was limited to hock lesions where there was inflammation and damage of the skin and the subcutaneous tissue only without involvement of the joint. The presence of hock lesions, or tarsal peri-arthritis, is strongly related to time spent lying on abrasive surfaces, prolonged high local pressure or friction of the hock on hard surfaces, and collisions of the hock with cubicle fittings. Since hocks have almost no fatty tissue or muscles between the bones and skin, there is no protection against these types of trauma and skin damage occurs (resulting in hock lesions). The risk of these lesions becoming infected is strongly dependent on the hygiene of the lying area. The prevalence of hock lesions in dairy cows is generally reported as high (>50%). As hock lesions are often correlated with lameness, they are associated with economic losses and impaired welfare, as well as negative societal perception of the dairy sector. Alterations in cubicle characteristics, bedding material, pasture access and lameness prevention may all lower the prevalence of hock lesions; nevertheless, the actual relationship between housing design and other cow- and management-related risk factors on the occurrence of hock lesions appears to be complex and interrelated.
本文回顾了关于奶牛跗关节病变的文献，特别关注其患病率、相关临床症状，以及用于评估这些病变的评分系统和风险因素数据。本分析仅限于仅累及皮肤和皮下组织而未累及关节的跗关节病变。跗关节病变或跗骨周围关节炎的出现与奶牛躺卧在粗糙表面的时间、跗关节在坚硬表面上长时间承受的高局部压力或摩擦以及跗关节与牛舍配件的碰撞密切相关。由于跗关节在骨骼和皮肤之间几乎没有脂肪组织或肌肉，因此无法抵御这些类型的创伤，从而导致皮肤损伤（引发跗关节病变）。这些病变感染的风险很大程度上取决于躺卧区域的卫生状况。通常报道奶牛跗关节病变的患病率很高（>50%）。由于跗关节病变常与跛行相关，它们会导致经济损失、福利受损，以及社会对奶牛养殖业的负面看法。牛舍特性、垫料、牧场使用情况和跛行预防措施的改变都可能降低跗关节病变的患病率；然而，牛舍设计与其他与奶牛和管理相关的风险因素对跗关节病变发生的实际关系似乎很复杂且相互关联。
