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  Discussion on Swelling above bandage
Author Message
Member:
Finogirl

Posted on Saturday, Sep 11, 2004 - 2:26 am:

Hi Dr. O. Our mare got her leg caught in a fence this morning and cut her leg quite badly. The vet wrapped it and told me to leave the pressure bandage on till monday or tuesday. Her hock has swollen and I am afraid the bandage will cut off her circulation. I am wondering if I should use bute or banimine to reduce the swelling. The vet gave no instructions for swelling except to slightly cut the bandage if she swells at the fetlock area. I have made a small cut at the top by the hock to try to reduce the pressure.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Sep 11, 2004 - 8:44 am:

Hello Deborah,
Unfortunately without seeing your horse I cannot make specific clinical judgements but remarkable swelling above and/or below the bandage are a cause for concern and the veterinarian who put the bandage on should be contacted and if unavailable the bandage should be changed so that the wound can be examined, tended to, and a bandage with the proper pressure put back on.

It is a bit early for infection. Bute can be helpful with inflammation but if infection is the problem, antibiotics are indicated.For more on wound care and bandaging see, Equine Diseases » Skin Diseases.
DrO
Member:
Finogirl

Posted on Monday, Sep 13, 2004 - 11:25 pm:

Hello Dr. O. Sorry I posted at the bottom of someone else's discussion the other day. I was exhausted and stressed out. Thank you for your response. Actually, the mare banged up her hock badly but it was not readily apparent because we got her to the vet quickly to treat the leg cut and her hock had not swelled yet. I have been wrapping the hock area twice daily with frozen baby diapers (I wet them and then freeze them) because I cannot get the lower bandage wet. The swelling has gone down a lot with the cold therapy and 2 grams of bute 2x daily. I have reduced the bute to 1 and 1/2 grams and will remove the lower bandage tomorrow. The vet told me to leave it on till Monday or Tuesday. Since I got the swelling under control, I decided to go the whole time with the bandage. I was concerned that the bute could increase the bleeding like asprin would, so thank you, it worked for the swelling with no further bleeding. No, I did not think there was an infection right away, and still none. I was just sooo stressed out. Thank you again, and I will most likely let you know how the leg looks after I remove the bandage, she scraped it almost down to the bone.
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