Comparative efficacy of ultrasonography and auscultation for diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia in buffaloes

The present study was conducted on 33 clinical cases (January-December 2014) of female buffaloes in the age group of 2–13 yr presented with complaint of emaciation, recurrent tympany and anorexia, and suspected for diaphragmatic hernia. All the buffaloes were subjected to auscultation and trans-abdominal ultrasonographic examination followed by laparorumenotomy. The statistical analysis revealed that auscultation resulted in 35.29% and 93.05% diagnostic accuracy at 4^th and 5^th intercostals space, respectively, with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 93.05%. The diagnostic accuracy through ultrasonographic observations demonstrated 94.09% and 91.25% accuracy at 4^th and 5^th intercostal space, respectively, with an overall diagnostic accuracy of 94.09%. It can be concluded that ultrasonography should be used as an adjunct to clinical auscultation for confirmatory diagnosis of diaphragmatic hernia in buffaloes.