Liver biopsy in ruminants is an important technique for clinical diagnosis of toxic and metabolic diseases, especially mineral disorders. The most frequent procedures used so far results in an small amount of liver and not enough for multiple tests. The present study aims to evaluate the efficacy of paracostal laparotomy liver biopsy technique in cattle and buffalo and to follow possible changes on biochemical and hematological profiles caused by the surgery. Ten cattle and ten buffalo were used in this study. The animals were kept on their normal position and sedated with xilazin and locally infiltrated with lidocain and epinefrin. The access to abdominal cavity was carried through a right paracoastal laparotomy, ventrally to the transverse process of 2nd or 3rd lombar vertebra. A small portion of the hepatic caudal lobe (2 to 4g) was clinched by a Doyen clamp and removed. The abdominal cavity was closed as normally routine. Blood samples were taken to biochemical tests and hemogram before the procedure, and 24h, 48h, 5 and 10 days later. The technique was practical and easy to be performed (took approximately 25 minutes). The technique described here was efficient and offers low risk to animal health and provided enough amount of liver tissue for multiple tests.
liver; cattle; buffaloes; laparotomy; hematology; biochemistry
