Treatment protocols for claw horn lesions and their impact on lameness recovery, pain sensitivity, and lesion severity in moderately lame primiparous dairy cows.
Authors: Sadiq Mohammed Babatunde, Ramanoon Siti Zubaidah, Shaik Mossadeq Wan Mastura, Mansor Rozaihan, Syed-Hussain Sharifah Salmah
Journal: Frontiers in veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Claw horn disruptive lesions (CHDL) remain a significant cause of lameness in dairy cattle, yet optimal treatment strategies remain debated among practitioners. Babatunde and colleagues conducted a randomised controlled trial on first-lactation dairy cows with moderate lameness (score 3/5) and single-foot CHDL, comparing five treatment protocols: therapeutic trim alone (LT), trim with NSAID (ketoprofen; LTN), trim with hoof block (LTB), the combination of all three (LTNB), and a non-lame control group receiving preventive or therapeutic trim as needed. At 28 days post-treatment, the combined approach (LTNB) yielded substantially superior outcomes, with 75% recovery versus 40–62% for other lame groups, whilst the LTNB group also demonstrated pain absence (measured by limb withdrawal reflex) in 75% of animals compared to significantly lower rates in single-intervention groups. The presence of pain sensitivity at day 28 was a strong negative predictor of lameness resolution (odds ratio 0.06), suggesting that pain management and load redistribution via hoof blocking work synergistically with therapeutic trimming to accelerate healing. For equine practitioners, these findings reinforce the value of multimodal approaches to foot lesions: therapeutic intervention addressing mechanical dysfunction, anti-inflammatory support, and pressure relief on the affected structure offer superior outcomes to single-modality treatments in moderately affected animals with good body condition.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •For moderately lame dairy cows with claw horn lesions, combining therapeutic trim, NSAIDs (3 days ketoprofen), and hoof block on the healthy claw produces superior lameness recovery (75% vs 40%) compared to trim alone
- •Pain assessment via limb withdrawal reflex is a useful clinical indicator—persistent pain at 4 weeks strongly predicts treatment failure and need for further intervention
- •First-lactation cows with good body condition and moderate lameness respond better to multimodal treatment; single-intervention approaches leave 60% of cases unresolved at 4 weeks
Key Findings
- •Combined treatment (therapeutic trim + NSAID + hoof block) achieved 75% recovery rate compared to 40% with trim alone (OR=4.5, 95% CI 1.1-19.1)
- •Absence of limb withdrawal reflex at day 28 was significantly higher in combined treatment group (75%) versus NSAID-only (42.9%) and trim-only (40%) groups
- •Cows with persistent limb withdrawal reflex at day 28 were 94% less likely to achieve non-lame status (OR=0.06, 95% CI 0.01-0.24)
- •Lesion severity was significantly lower in the NSAID-only group compared to NSAID+trim group