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Pig Journal Volume: 59
Publication date: July 2007

Proceedings Section

PRESSURE-RELATED ABDOMINAL CHANGES IN PIGS WITH 'WHEY BLOAT' - A CASE REPORT
J.R. Thomson, W.G. Miller, N.J. Woolfenden and D. Thomson

Abstract
Investigations were undertaken into sudden deaths on two whey-feeding units, with the aim of furthering understanding of the pathogenesis of 'whey bloat'. Post-mortem examination of 28 cases showed typical changes of 'haemorrhagic bowel syndrome,' but intestinal torsion around the root of the mesentery was present in only two cases. No evidence of enteropathogenic bacteria or intestinal clostridial toxins were demonstrated in any animals tested. Intra-gastric pressure measurements were recorded shortly after death to determine approximate intra-abdominal pressure values. The mean intra-gastric pressure of 6 pigs affected with 'whey bloat' was 40.83 ± 4.4 mmHg, as compared with 3.5 ± 1.5 mmHg in pigs from other units that had died from unrelated causes. Biomedical research in pigs has shown that intra-abdominal pressure of 30 mmHg resulted in life-threatening multi-organ dysfunction during simulated human 'abdominal compartment syndrome' experiments. These findings suggest that the intestinal changes associated with 'whey bloat' can be the direct consequence of high intra-abdominal pressure which is fermentation-related, often without intestinal torsion. Prevention of 'whey bloat' involves restriction of the whey intake to no more than 20% of the total ration on a dry matter basis, feeding the whey as part of a complete ration via a liquid feeding system and taking measures to reduce intestinal fermentation.

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