Effect of intramuscular and intravaginal PGE-2 treatment compared to intramuscular oxytocin treatment in eutocic sows on the farrowing performance in a free farrowing system

Bill, Ramona; Carmo, Luis P.; Vidondo, Beatriz; Nathues, Heiko; Grahofer, Alexander (2021). Effect of intramuscular and intravaginal PGE-2 treatment compared to intramuscular oxytocin treatment in eutocic sows on the farrowing performance in a free farrowing system. Theriogenology, 161, pp. 1-7. Butterworths 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2020.11.013

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A duration of parturition beyond 300 min negatively impacts the health of the sow and the survival of
piglets during parturition. Hence, oxytocin is widely used to speed up the parturition. However, oxytocin’s negative side effects raise the need of finding alternative treatments such as those already
implemented in human medicine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Prostaglandin E2
(PGE2) applied intravaginally (PGE2-V) (1.0 mg) or intramuscularly (PGE2-M) (2.5 mg) to improve the
parturition process after expulsion of the fourth piglet compared to a placebo (PeV), which was sterile
intravaginal gel or intramuscular oxytocin application (OXY-M) (20 iu) in free farrowing systems.In total,
201 eutocic sows were examined after stratification by parity and random allocation into groups: 54 (P
eV), 48 (OXY-M), 50 (PGE2-V), 49 (PGE2-M). Farrowing duration (time between first piglet and last
piglet), piglet interval and placenta expulsion duration (time between first and last placenta) were
recorded, and each piglet was scored for meconium staining and vitality. Furthermore, stillborn piglets
were categorized into ante-partum and intra-partum deaths.Under the present conditions, neither
administration of PGE2 nor oxytocin revealed a significant effect on the farrowing process or the vitality
of the piglets when compared to untreated sows. Nonetheless, significant differences could be detected
between PGE-2 and oxytocin treatments. The duration of farrowing was significantly shorter in oxytocintreated sows (156 min) compared to sows treated intramuscularly with PGE2 (238 min). Furthermore,
the placenta expulsion duration in the OXY-M group (130 min) significantly differed from PGE2-V
(198 min) and PGE2-M group (218 min). Although these accelerations of parturition might be considered as a beneficial effect, routine treatment with uterotonic agents after birth of the fourth piglet in free
farrowing eutocic sows cannot be recommended, because an overall benefit when compared to untreated sows was not approved.

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