Association between β-hydroxybutyrate concentration at surgery for correction of left-displaced abomasum in dairy cows and removal from the herd after surgery.

Objective: To estimate the sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and predictive values of blood β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) concentrations in dairy cows immediately prior to surgical correction of left-displaced abomasum (LDA) for determining associations between BHB concentration and removal from the herd ≤ 30 days after surgery and to evaluate postsurgical risk of removal for cows with the BHB concentration that had highest sensitivity and specificity for predicting this outcome.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Animals: 136 dairy cows with LDA diagnosed between 5 and 30 days in lactation (ie, days in milk).