Eye enucleation and exenteration in cattle: a retrospective study of 38 cases (2013–2020)

The study aimed to describe clinical indications for eye enucleation and exenteration, the occurrence of complications and long-term outcome in cattle, and examine owners' attitude towards enucleation and exenteration and their satisfaction with the surgical outcome. Medical records from the two veterinary teaching hospitals in Switzerland were reviewed to identify cattle that underwent unilateral enucleation or exenteration between January 2013 and December 2020. Data extracted included medical history, ocular examination, clinical diagnosis, surgical procedure including anesthesia, suture material and pattern used, complications, and treatment thereof. Long-term follow-up was evaluated via national animal database inquiries to determine survival time and via owners' interviews with the use of a standardized questionnaire that included questions regarding the occurrence of complications and reason for culling, production performances and perceived quality of life after surgery, concerns, factors affecting the decision to proceed with surgery, and general satisfaction with the outcome. Descriptive statistics, Fisher's exact tests and unpaired t-test were used to summarize the data and assess association between variables. Association was considered significant if p < 0,05. Thirty-eight cases were identified, with a median age of 5 years. More than half of the cases (55,3 %) were diagnosed with non-neoplastic ocular lesions represented by severe trauma with loss of globe content, globe rupture with history of infectious keratoconjunctivitis or hypopyon, or congenital malformations. The remaining cases were diagnosed with neoplastic lesions, including ocular squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), melanoma, or sarcoma. Complications following surgery were reported in 29 % of cases and included postoperative infection and recurrence of OSCC. There was no significant association between ocular diagnosis and the occurrence of postoperative complications or survival time. Surgery did not seem to influence the animals' postoperative production performance or the perceived quality of life. Most owners (92 %) were satisfied with the surgical outcome. The occurrence of postoperative complications leading to increased overall costs and culling was the main reason for lower owner satisfaction.