ABSTRACT:
The vesiculite is an inflammatory process of the vesicular glands, unilateral or bilateral, that affects bulls. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of ultrasound as a complementary method for early detection of changes in seminal vesicles in bulls. This study was conducted in the municipality of Videira, Santa Catarina. We evaluated 42 bulls, with an average age of 15 months, Aberdeen Angus and Polled Hereford breeds and in semi-confinement. Clinical animal examination and andrological exam were performed in all animals. Semen samples were obtained by electroejaculation and physical characteristics of the ejaculate were performed. Rectal palpation was performed by ultrasonography to evaluate vesicular glands changes. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) for comparison between means with significance level of 5%. The presence of vesiculitis was observed in 31 (73.8%) from the 42 analyzed bulls. Of the 31 animals, 11 animals (35.5%) presented bilateral vesiculitis and 20 showed unilateral vesiculitis (64.5%; P<0.05). Animals with a larger scrotal perimeter tend to develop unilateral vesiculitis, which can be explained by the sexual precocity observed by sodomy among animals. In this way, the use of ultrasound helps preventively to detect animals with vesiculitis in breeding animals.
INDEX TERMS:
Ultrasonography; seminal vesiculite; bulls; sexual precocity; sodomy; breeding soundness examination; clinics
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