In the cow,
cesarean section delivery is often followed by retention of fetal membranes. Hypothetically, the retention of fetal membranes could be prevented by intraplacental
injections of the
enzyme collagenase. However, the infusion of this potent
proteolytic enzyme into a uterus traumatized by surgery can lead to uterine damage, including perforation. Thus, the objective of this research was to evaluate tolerance of intraplacental treatment of bacterial
collagenase. A
cesarean section was performed on 10 experimental cows undergoing induced delivery or diagnosed with
dystocia. During the
surgical procedure, 200,000 units of bacterial
collagenase in 1 L of saline were infused via the umbilical arteries. A
cesarean section was also performed on control cows (n = 25) affected by
dystocia, but these received no
collagenase. The
collagenase-treated cows showed no clinical or laboratory signs of abnormality over a 3- to 4-wk observation period post treatment. When membrane retention time was set at 36 h post surgery, 20% of the experimental cows and 60% of the control cows had retained the fetal membranes. It was concluded that intraplacental administration of
collagenase during
cesarean section is safe. However, treatment effectiveness and economic benefits for commercial application need further study.