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  Discussion on Weepy wound?
Author Message
Member:
Galatea

Posted on Saturday, Jun 5, 2004 - 2:23 am:

Hi DrO

2 weeks ago another pasture horse kicked my horse on the inside of his stifle, about a 1/2 inch away from the joint (farther back and above the joint). The horse had studs on her shoes and ripped my horse's skin, laceration was about 2 inches long horizontally, 1 inch vertically. The other horse and my horse were both removed from the pasture, mine was in a small paddock for a week to keep the wound clean and has been back out in pasture for a week.

The vet had looked at it and said it was not a full thickness wound, although there was some edema, she also said the joint was not injured. Lucky boy! The horse has been completely sound since he was injured, and we have been working him lightly as well. Never had a temperature over 100.

My question is how long should a wound like this seep lymph? (I'm assuming that's what it is, it's clear, watery, and definitely NOT joint fluid!) It has been a bit of a weepy wound since day one, but even today at almost two weeks it was dripping a little bit. I have been hosing it gently to get the surface dirt off every day, but no scrubbing, and putting nolvasan creme on it. Should I be concerned that it's STILL weeping, and is there something else I should be using to dry the wound up? It has healed significantly around the edges but still has to heal in the middle. There is no heat around the wound either. Thanks so much for your help.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jun 5, 2004 - 9:09 am:

That is quite a bit of trauma Nicole and may weep serum until healed if you prevent scabbing. Dried serum makes for a scab but until I was sure there was not going to be any necrosis of deeper layers I would treat as you are doing.
DrO
New Member:
Mariss

Posted on Thursday, Sep 22, 2005 - 11:49 pm:

I'm having a terrible time with a wound on the front fetlocks of a horse I take care of. He's retired at my place. He has virtually no hind suspensorys (they disintegrated)and every time he lays down and gets up (2x a day) he tears them open again. He struggles to get up and throws his weight on the fetlock joints. I've been trying to preserve the flesh by putting gauze and elasticon around the area every day. It is not a good situation. The vet told me to let the air at it, but every time I leave off the tape he tears it open again. It gets deeper and deeper. We're using so much tape and gauze it's crazy. I've tried the boots that are for these bed sores. They don't work. They shift to the side and are useless. Whatever material I use to wrap it gets stuck on the wound and when I remove it it pulls off the surface and opens it up again. I started using non-stick gauze which helps a bit. Anybody have ideas? This wound has not been healed for two years. It happens when he is turned out as well as in the stall. I'm surprised this situation hasn't done him in by now.
Member:
Jlhill7

Posted on Friday, Sep 23, 2005 - 12:11 am:

Well i don't know much. But I use Kotex pads. They seem not to stick to the wound and are very absorbent.Also make sure you are not cleaning it with something that will deaden the new tissue.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 23, 2005 - 9:37 am:

The kotex pads would also provide very tough protection. If they stick I would add a telfa pad to it. Perhaps laying in a stock of reusable ace bandages might make the whole process less expensive. They conform well to irregular areas. If it works keep several sets around so that you always have a fresh laundered one to put on. Use very delicate settings and short periods in the washer and dry on very low heat so you don't ruin the elasticity.

Have you considered putting the horse on some bute? Though it will not help the wound heal it may allow the horse to stand in a more normal manner so that he does not have to balance on the front of the fetlocks and may even allow more comfortable standing so that there is less getting up and down. I have had this help me with bed sores.
DrO
PS, This in Nicoles discussion. Mariss you should start new a new discussion to discuss your concerns. You will receive more and faster replies by doing so.
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Friday, Sep 23, 2005 - 11:27 am:

Dr. O, would using a saline solution with some genicin in it help the sores heal better? We used that on a filly that had a deep leg wound and it really helped it heal faster. It got it to a point where you didn't have to wrap it and could doctor with other products. She belonged to a friend and she was on vacation when this happened at her place. We had to doctor her for a week until she got home. Her final thing to use on it was Shreiners and it is healing up nicely. EO
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 24, 2005 - 9:48 am:

Certainly saline and gentamycin would be on my list of suitable treatments. I am not a fan of Shreiners however and suggest treatments in our article on long term wound care, an article I should have referred you to above, Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases » Wounds / Burns » Long Term Deep Wound Care.
DrO
Member:
Eoeo

Posted on Saturday, Sep 24, 2005 - 10:10 am:

Dr. O,What do not like about Shreiners? EO
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Sunday, Sep 25, 2005 - 5:49 am:

I never knew that you could wash those ace bandages! What a great site this is...

Imogen
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Sep 25, 2005 - 9:46 am:

Shreiners is a mixture of 6 or 7 herb extracts for which I cannot find any scientific work suggesting this is a good thing for a wound. Shreiners says itself when they say you should not mix their product with other products because the results are unknown. But other than anecdotal information, I cannot find anywhere that shows their mixture has known results when compared against more traditional therapy.
DrO
Member:
Ramonah

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 27, 2005 - 11:47 am:

When my horse had an injury last year, my vet suggested standing wraps over quilted leg wraps over a sweat wrap (instead of the normal cotton gamgee, rolled gauze, and vet wrap). That stuff gets so expensive.
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