Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Gastro-intestinal Dysfunction in Rescued Olive Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea)

Background: The olive ridley sea turtle is a common inhabitant of primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Sea turtles show poor clinical signs and due to the existence of carapace and plastron, physical examination requires complementary diagnostic methodology to provide valuable information for clinical diagnosis. Methods: This work describes the normal ultrasonographic appearance of cervical structures and gastro-intestinal organs of seven olive ridley sea turtles that were stranded during September 2017 to April 2018 along with rescued sea turtle by Trust for Environmental and Education (TREE) foundation, Vettuvankeni, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Ultrasound examination was performed with multi frequency Probe (3.5 MHz to 7.5 MHz) transducer. Ten soft-tissue areas of integument were used as acoustic windows. Result: On ultrasonographic examination of the cervical-ventral acoustic window, the esophagus was imaged. The stomach was more frequently seen through the left axillary acoustic window. The liver could be imaged through both sides of the axillary window and the right axillary acoustic window was the most indicated to visualize the gallbladder. The large and small intestines could be seen in the prefemoral and post femoral acoustic window on the both the sides. The ultrasonographic measurement of various organs was done furthermore gastrointestinal dysfunctions were recorded. This study on ultrasound indices was found to be a useful diagnostic tool for evaluation of coelomic organs in olive ridley.