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  Discussion on Infected wound in winter
Author Message
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 12:26 am:

My mare has an infected wound on her pastern.
I had noticed the cut,it appeared to be little more than a shallow scrape, cleaned it with betadine, treated it with Polysporin over several days. The wound was scabbed over, no heat or tenderness. then came Christmas and a bad cold so for a period of 5 days I didn't get to the barn to see her.
Today the wound is oozing a bit of goo(not really thick) and there is heat directly on the wound.
Since it is winter I do not have access to a water hose but I do have water so can wash with a bucket.
Should the wound be soaked to draw out infection?
Saline-hot-cold?
After cleaning I will use a syringe to inject betadine.
I am going to clinic to get a shot of penacilin in the morning.
If I soak her foot I think I should wrap it and put her in a stall for a few hours so the leg can dry before turning her out in her pen.
Any other suggestions?
Thanks
Member:
Jmarie

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 12:11 pm:

I'm sure Dr. O will have a far better answer, but I'm going to share what I did last winter when my brand-new gelding was kicked. He had a wound low on his cannon bone that was almost healed when he reinjured it (same horse kicked the same spot!).

I didn't want to wash his leg and risk the water freezing on it (it was zero degrees here at the time), which limited my options, so I alternated daily treatments, squirting betadine into the wound with a catheter syringe then bandaging with Bacitracin antibiotic ointment on a sterile pad, and just cleaning the wound and spraying with Furall then bandaging.

I believe the key for my situation was the use of non-stick pads against the wound so that I didn't pull off the scab again once it started to heal. It took far longer to heal than it would have during the summer when I'd have been able to hose the wound clean and allow it to air-dry, but it did heal without proud flesh and without scarring.

Once it stopped oozing and began to heal, I was able to cut back to every other day, then to every third day bandage replacements.

Good luck! This is not a great time of year to be dealing with wounds.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jan 2, 2007 - 11:25 pm:

Lori I would not soak this type wound because the foot contaminates the soak water badly. I would hot pack the wound daily then bandage it with a antibacterial cream as described in the long term wound care. You will find a description of hot packing under "Face Wound Care" on this forum. During the winter you can carry the hot water to the barn in a plastic insulated drink jug.
DrO
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Wednesday, Jan 3, 2007 - 9:17 am:

Thank you Joanne and Dr. O. I was thinking I would wash the foot to just below the wound then with fresh water soak. But I will try the hot pack method.
Since I think this wound is deeper than I thought at first which is why it didn't heal I will also try the non-stick pads to keep it from scabbing over so it will drain.
I hope this is correct thinking.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Jan 4, 2007 - 7:13 am:

Washing the foot will not begin to address the bacteria problem Lori. Usually no special effort has to be made to keep a wound open it just needs to be kept clean and treated and it will heal from the inside out and close as it needs to, though there are exceptions, particularly if a foreign body is present.

I too would recommend using non-sticking materials but that would be because it will not put out the hair when removed and not be as irritating.
DrO
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Thursday, Jan 4, 2007 - 9:46 am:

If you will bear with me Dr. O for my own education.
When I said i would wash the foot I did intend to wash vigorously with soap, then rinse with ?.. not bleach, don't want an extra white foot haha, and then wash/soak the wound.
You said washing wouldn't address the bacteria, what would? It may not be needed in this case but for future reference?
i have used the hot pack method as recommended and flushed the wound with syringe and betadine, I wasn't sure how strong betadine to use so used full strength.
I didn't have any non stick pads yesterday, so left it unbandaged after applying ointment.
Thanks
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 7:10 am:

A surgical prep would be required and it would consist of a thorough triple wash with antibacterial soap, each one followed by an alcohol rinse, then a thorough spraying with betadine solution. You just should not soak deep open wound of the skin of the lower leg with the foot in the water. About the only place this would actually improve the environment around and in the wound is when the opening is on the sole itself.
DrO
Member:
Maggienm

Posted on Friday, Jan 5, 2007 - 10:50 am:

Thank you Dr. O
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