References
A practical introduction to the thoracic ultrasonography of sheep
Abstract
Respiratory disease is common in sheep and thoracic ultrasonography can be a useful point of care diagnostic. This article describes how to perform thoracic ultrasonography in sheep, and provides examples of the lesions that may be identified, alongside practical advice gained through field experience. Ultrasonography should be combined with necropsy to confirm a proportion of diagnoses and build confidence using the technique in practice.
Respiratory disease is common in sheep, and is a significant constraint on production across many varied management systems (Lacasta et al, 2019). Thoracic radiography is impractical and costly, and the reliability of auscultation in diagnosing pulmonary pathology in people, cattle and sheep, is questionable (Wipf et al, 1999; Scott, 2017; Pardon et al, 2019), respectively. However, thoracic ultrasonography has been shown to be an effective technique in the control of ovine pulmonary adenocarcinoma (OPA), in addition to identifying and monitoring other thoracic pathologies at the point of care (Scott et al, 2013; Scott, 2017; Scott and Cousens, 2018). In this article, the authors share their opinions and advice on building experience with thoracic ultrasonography in sheep.
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