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Lynn Bystrom
| | Posted on Monday, Nov 22, 1999 - 11:52 pm: |   |
Hi:
A week ago, my mare sustained a deep laceration to the anterior portion of her front elbow. She severed the muscle, and the vet repaired things as well as he could. He closed the wound at the time, and it since has reopened...with the help of my mare...and is draining. I read your article on deep wound care. We've been irrigating her wound a couple times a day, but have not been able to figure out a way to keep a dressing on it without the mare removing it. Any suggestions??...or maybe I should just continue to leave it open. Another question I had is that we live in NW Wisconsin. Not the most comfortable climate during December-February if you know what I mean. How is the cold going to affect the healing process of this wound? Is it subjected to frostbite?? Fortunately, it's been in the upper 40's to 50's during the day, and she's in the barn (not heated) at night. Has anyone dealt with winter healing? At least I don't have to worry about flying insects this time of year. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you,
Lynn |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
| | Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 1999 - 7:00 am: | |
Hello Lyn,
I would not attempt to bandage this area unless there was a good reason (horse lives in a filthy area and rolls the wound into the filth fequently). I suspect the cold will slow down the reepitheliation of the wound but have seen no work on this. I doubt it will prevent the wound from healing. Try and keep the horse up and warm as much as possible.
DrO |
James R. Hughes
| | Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 1999 - 8:19 am: | |
Lynn
I'm in Iowa where the winters can also get very cold. A couple of years ago, a mare I have ripped ipen her chest. It was a nasty looking wound with a flap of skin and flesh hanging. Our vet said it would heal better if we just let it go and he was right. You can hardly tell where the wound was now. We did treat the wound with Furosone(sp).
Jim |
Lynn Bystrom
| | Posted on Tuesday, Nov 23, 1999 - 10:42 am: | |
Thanks Dr. O and Jim:
I believe I jinxed myself by saying how nice the weather has been....we woke up to snow this morning. I appreciate your comments and encouragement. I'll continue to leave the wound open...as of yet she has not rolled, but of course keeps licking the open wound. These wounds really do heal, huh? Hard to believe. I suppose we'll just keep irrigating and debriding the area and let nature take its course.
Thanks again,
Lynn |
Betsy Mosher
| | Posted on Monday, Jan 31, 2000 - 12:10 pm: | |
I have a yearling filly that was kicked directly across the face, its a triangle cut that is about 4 inches across and 6 inched down. It runs right across where the halter nose band would go. She was stiched and put on oral sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim. It was doing great and held for 6 days. Then she started to itch and tore the stithing out at the top. I now have a flap of skin that isnt stiched and looks like a pocket. I imediatly cleaned it and flushed with a bedadine scrub to clean it. Then I sewed a sterile kotex to a sleezy hood right where the tear was, Hoping it will help it hold together, I used novalsan ointment for the dressing. She has allowed the dressing to stay on and so far looks better, Is there any other solutions as this is a show filly and we sure hope we dont get a terrible scar? I have a vet but is not the greatest with cuts and he admits it. So I need advise? Thanks Betsy |
Administration
| | Posted on Tuesday, Feb 1, 2000 - 6:14 am: | |
Betsy,
Instead of posting your question at the bottom of someone elses discussion you should create your own. You will get more responses and it helps others find related information better.
Before you post a new forum discussion be sure to review the already existing articles and forum discussions on your subject. This is the appropriate topic for your subject, so just back up to your topic using the navigation bar at the top of this page and click on the article.
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Thank You,
The Advisor Administration |
Tony VanderBeek (Tony)
| | Posted on Saturday, Aug 12, 2000 - 11:39 pm: | |
Lynn, I have been doctoring 3 horses that have had deep lacerations . I first irrigating them once a day then put on the yellow salve that the Dr. gave me , I then put a non-adherent dressing on it and then wrap a gauze wrap around it ,then finally wrap it with self adhisive stretch wrap, wrapping it very tight on the wound, it stays on great, til next cleaning.All 3 horses wounds are healing very well . |
Kandi Buchwald (Kasson)
| | Posted on Sunday, Aug 13, 2000 - 2:19 am: | |
Tony, be careful that you are not wrapping the wounds too tightly. I have recently had a serious leg wound and that was one of the considerations I was warned about. Did the vet tell you to wrap tightly or loosely? You want to make sure that the circulation is not compromised so that the wounds continue to heal. Where are the wounds? |
Tony VanderBeek (Tony)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Aug 15, 2000 - 12:51 pm: | |
Kandi, one colt has it on her front ankle right side, one has the wound on her back ankle, and the last one has it on her back legs up toward her knee, I put them on just tight enough to stay up, all 3 mares are improving so I must not be putting them on to tight. The only one I worry about is the 3rd one that has it on her back legs toward her knee, she has rain rot real bad, had her leg stitched but part of the skin was missing so that wound doesnt seem to be doing quit as well as the other two, she has lost weight because of the rain rot so it seems to be taking longer to heal. Does this sound right? And thanks for the info on the wrapping because the Dr. said to put it tight, wife has been doing it and she doesnt go ovely tight on it. |
Deborah A. Joseph (Dajoseph)
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 23, 2001 - 12:27 pm: | |
I recently purch young 2 yr old TB. She had a serious chest injury 2 wks ago today. She jumped on & off a T-Post which missed her heart & exited above her shoulder. She took antibiotics for 10 days & Bute for 1 wk. She is walking well and doesn't seem to be in any pain, & vet states no perm injury. The wound is very open (at least 6" deep) & irrigated twice daily w/ H2O followed by Betadine, then irrigated again w/ H2O. Using SCAT on area surrounding wound to discourage flies. Any suggestions to promote healing/wound closure? |
Holly Edwards (Hwood)
| | Posted on Monday, Apr 23, 2001 - 2:47 pm: | |
Hi, Deborah,
I had a pony who was chased by another gelding in the pasture and got a puncture wound up into his chest, underneath, between his front legs.
Outside of an antibiotic, the vet told me to leave it alone, no soaking or washing, but just to let it drain and heal.
Since your horse has a wound on the top also, it seems it is important to keep the area around the wound on the shoulder clean from settling dirt and dust or from dirt picked up from rolling, but if she has already had the antibiotics, and there is no infection, I would suggest just letting it heal on its own. Of course, we want punctures to heal from the inside out, so you will want to watch it, but it worked out well for my little guy with no complications. It sounds as if your horse will be fine, too.
Holly |
ANN COLLIER (Dres)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 24, 2001 - 11:19 am: | |
my colt was attacked by a mountain lion when he was a weanling, lucky for us we were there the moment it happened and had a vet out immediately, he was stapled closed and all wounds were treated but as you can see the staples did not hold the chest wound closed... my gal friend and i came up with using a baby diaper on his chest to absorb the drainage to cut down on flys, we irrigated the wound two times aday and changed his diaper,.. he has healed wonderfully and NO SCARE...
 |
lynne ashforth (Lynnea)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 24, 2001 - 11:56 am: | |
What an adorable colt. So glad he came through his ordeal is great and what an ingenious idea to use a diaper. I am curious about what kind of diaper you used for future reference, my daughter has babies, but I don't recognize your particular diaper..I can't imagine seeing one of my horses attacked by a lion, lucky for the little guy you were there. |
ANN COLLIER (Dres)
| | Posted on Tuesday, Apr 24, 2001 - 12:55 pm: | |
we used pampers and i believe it was the size for my grandbaby at that time she was only 9 months old.... oh! and what i used to keep the diaper in place was a pair of LARGE women's haines underwear that i cut then put his front legs threw....you cannot believe all the drainage from such a wound and the diapers collected it all and kept him "dry and comfortable"....this injury did not effect his movement at all... he is still winning in hand classes for the "dressage sport horse" shows....
(as you can see this cut threw the chest muscles which had to be hand sew in place... * and did not hold either)
thank you for the compliment as i too think he is adorable, and am keeping him as my dressage mount.. |
Elizabeth Donahue (Paul303)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2001 - 12:51 am: | |
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who are able to share pictures with us. To be able to see the extent of the wounds on Ann's colt and to know the outcome was so favorable, will certainly help to bolster the courage of many of us. Especially the ones
(like me )who are sorely tempted to run screaming to the hay loft and bury ourselves in the hay, covering our eyes and holding our ears, until everything is OK. Instead we stand there and pretend we're dealing with it while our brains are exploding with gastly visions of the worst scenarios. Thank heavens my vet has me pegged. I always am given a set of neatly printed instructions - as many pages as my vet thinks I need to keep me healthy enough to treat my horse. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2001 - 6:59 am: | |
Hello all,
Deborah there are instructions for taking care of wounds, even deep ones in the articles in tis section Equine Diseases: Skin Diseases: Wounds: First Aid, Care, and Proud Flesh. You can get to these articles by backing up one using the navigation bar at the top of the page.
DrO |
Deborah A. Joseph (Dajoseph)
| | Posted on Wednesday, Apr 25, 2001 - 11:02 am: | |
I'd like to thank Ann, Holly & Dr. Oglesby for input. Since posting my message, the vet came out to check on our baby. She says Sophie is doing great, no infection, drainage is from protein in wound, & SCAT helps some w/ flies. I am to con't w/ water & betadine twice daily. I LOVE the diaper idea, but Sophie weighs 800+ lbs. I don't know if anyone makes a diaper or underwear large enough for the job. I will try to post some pic's w/in the next day or two - as soon as I learn how. Again, thanks for your input! Debbie & Sophie |
DINA
Member
Username: Paix
Post Number: 2
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, Nov 7, 2003 - 5:46 pm: | |
OOPS - HERE IT IS....}
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
I was reading the information on deep wound care and proud flesh avoidance/care. It said not to use H2O2 on open wounds. I always use it even if it is to be wrapped. I use it first and flush the wound with water as well. Then I apply a triple antibiotic or different if vet has supplied or suggested. I usually let it soak up a bit of the salve (in my presence so no flies, etc get on wound), then apply it again generously. I then apply a "spray" type wound dressing (those nice and colorful ones) and begin to wrap.
Please advise me on my steps - I am very diligent and it seems to always turn out great and no scar.
I have another question - somewhat related to this topic as well.
I rescued a PMU DraftXPaint. The people I TOOK him from (abusive/negligent) said he had a fall about 300 feet down a very step hillside full of trees.
His forehead had a larger skin flap hanging down (this is all as described to me) and they, without a vet involved, sewed it back together.
I have had him now for 6 mos - he is 3.5y/o (and huge and healthy! - I love him!).
My question is about all the dead skin, kind of loose, too. Enough so that I clean out all the dirt and whatever that gets in there under the (appx 1.5" protruding skin WITH normal hair growth, I might add). Another area has no hair and is just dark, even though he hs a lot of unpigmented skin on his bald face.
It doesnt seem to bother him - It seems to be an area that itches a lot, though. He really likes it rubbed a lot and cleaned out with scratching the area lightly with my fingers or a soft brush.
Is there anything I can do at this point to either get the hair to grow where there is none, or flatten the area and lose the extra skin?
Could he suffer headaches from this past very serious injury? That opens a whole new discussion - how to know when your animal has a headache and what to do???
thanks for your time and energy - This is my first post, but I read and learn a great deal.
Thank you. |
DINA
Member
Username: Paix
Post Number: 3
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Friday, Nov 7, 2003 - 5:49 pm: | |
Sorry, the injury happened to Chester when he was about 2y/o.
Thanks again |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 9430
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Sunday, Nov 9, 2003 - 8:00 am: | |
Dina since you are treating wounds open and no scar results you are referring to partial skin thickness wounds and not deep wounds, however the peroxide is still not indicated (though not as harmful). For more on peroxide see the articles on wound care on the skin diseases menu, Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases ».
If you really have a flap of dead skin, it can just be cut off since it has neither a blood supply or live nerves. However it would surprise me if the wound has healed with a flap of dead skin just hanging there, perhaps you should have a veterinarian evaluate it for what you are looking at. If you post some pictures of ir I would be glad to comment further.
DrO
|
DINA
Member
Username: Paix
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, Nov 9, 2003 - 2:36 pm: | |
Thanks for your quick reply on H2O2 use. I am reading all the wound information.
I will take some pix of CHesters forehead and get them posted. It is not necessarily "hanging" that was a poor choice of descriptive terminology. It is LOOSE, most definitely. I will post pix tomorrow.
Thanks! |
rod triplett
New Member
Username: Rodman1
Post Number: 1
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, Aug 5, 2004 - 1:41 pm: | |
My three year old gelding received a nick or puncture on the front of rear fetlock joint. It became infected and painfully swollen. I've had him in to the vet four times in three weeks and although the wound looks healed, there is still substantial swelling. x/rays were taken and no metal showed. Wound was probed for foreign object and thoroughly flushed twice. Vet, also administered naxcel injection twice. I followed up with oral antibiotic for five days initially. All looked well until two days after medicine ran out. Wound was oozing and swelling recurred. Again after vet flushed wound and naxcel was administered, I followed up with my own naxcel injections for six days along with oral antibiotic for eight days. Still looks swollen from infection. Could I still need to run more of, or a different antibiotic. Skin appears pinkish and wrap has been off for three days. |
rod triplett
Member
Username: Rodman1
Post Number: 2
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, Aug 5, 2004 - 1:45 pm: | |
My three year old gelding received a nick or puncture on the front of rear fetlock joint. It became infected and painfully swollen. I've had him in to the vet four times in three weeks and although the wound looks healed, there is still substantial swelling. x/rays were taken and no metal showed. Wound was probed for foreign object and thoroughly flushed twice. Vet, also administered naxcel injection twice. I followed up with oral antibiotic for five days initially. All looked well until two days after medicine ran out. Wound was oozing and swelling recurred. Again after vet flushed wound and naxcel was administered, I followed up with my own naxcel injections for six days along with oral antibiotic for eight days. Still looks swollen from infection. Could I still need to run more of, or a different antibiotic. Skin appears pinkish and wrap has been off for three days. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 10918
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, Aug 5, 2004 - 6:21 pm: | |
Rod does the vet know if the joint has become infected or just the tissues around the joint?
If there is still signs of infection then yes, you need to continue antibiotics but persistant problems in face of a antibiotic suggests a wound with a foreign body or that is not draining well.
DrO |
Little King Ranch
Member
Username: Eoeo
Post Number: 69
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Friday, Aug 6, 2004 - 11:09 am: | |
I would mix an epsom salt solution up and set his leg in it to cover the wound and let it soak for 15 min. for a few days along with the antibiotics. Maybe that would bring the foreign object out? EO |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 10929
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Saturday, Aug 7, 2004 - 9:50 am: | |
The problem is this brings all the bateria from the bottom on the feet in contact with the wound predisposing to worsening infection. If I thought there was such a foreign object, I would go searching with radiographs, ultrasound, and surgically.
DrO |
rod triplett
Member
Username: Rodman1
Post Number: 3
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, Aug 10, 2004 - 8:28 pm: | |
Dr. O.,
After another trip to the vet, exploratory and scraping of the bone, the word now is that the horse sustained a deep bone bruise and now has bone sequestrum. Ironcially a neighbor (also a vet) stopped by and wonders if there is a fracture since the original vet guarenteed that there is no foreign object in the wound. Have an appointment this Friday morning to have more x-rays. Apparently time will heal this IF the joint is not involved. Any advise on what questions should be asked etc? Of note, neighbor vet believes a fracture has to be in place in order to consider sequestrum???? |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 10965
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004 - 9:50 am: | |
Not necessarily Rod. Severe blunt trauma could result in an area of bone to die without fracture. Or more commonly there is a nondisplaced fracture that is not easily seen radiographically. If we presume there has been some trauma to the joint, what is being done to minimize the inflammation from said trauma and minimize the chance of arthritis?
DrO |
rod triplett
Member
Username: Rodman1
Post Number: 4
Registered: 8-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, Aug 11, 2004 - 8:17 pm: | |
Dr. O.. Thanks much for responding. The bone has been scraped of dead material and the area wrapped. No more antibiotics were directed as this could complicate the sequestrum (so I was told). Was instructed to administer 'Bute', 4mgs per day (Which has been administered daily since four weeks ago now).I am scheduled to take Copper in for x/rays Friday, to determine if sequestrum has gotten into joint. My neighbor is also bringing his x/ray machine home for his own look later that same day. Of course both vets seem to differ on the diagnosis and prognosis. The swelling has never gone completely away during this period. I've already spent a ton of money. Is there a chance the horse will never be sound again? Would you suggest another treatment for swelling and future arthritis? I feel that there is more of an emergency here than is being tended. Any suggestion would be appreciated. Need more help, Rod. |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM
Moderator
Username: Dro
Post Number: 10971
Registered: 1-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, Aug 12, 2004 - 10:41 am: | |
Only if the joint develops arthritis, otherwise nothing you have posted so far suggests a permanant injury. The bute is important but oral chondroitins might be logical. Intraarticular hyaluronic and steroid would also be logical if this can be done without significant risk of introducing infection.
DrO |
