This is an archived Horseadvice.com Discussion. The parent article and menus are available on the navigation menu below:
HorseAdvice.com » Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Wounds / Burns » Wounds: First Aid Care »
  Discussion on Bed sores
Author Message
New Member:
corfud

Posted on Sunday, Aug 23, 2009 - 11:50 pm:

I am new to the forum so if I am in the wrong place forgive me. I have a donkey sanctuary in Corfu, Greece. We have no vets here that have knowledge of equines, nor farriers nor dentists. I have a donkey that has what I believe to be radial nerve injury. She cannot get up on her own. She can stand up on her own once we lift her up and place her in the sling for support. We are happy to give her some time to see if she recovers but she is getting bed sores as she prefers to lie down. How do I prevent these and how do I help them heal. The only bedding we have available is straw or hay. We cannot afford special medicines even if they were available. Veterinary wise they are 30 years behind the times here so please bare this in mind when giving much needed advice, thanks
Member:
36541

Posted on Monday, Aug 24, 2009 - 12:23 am:

Hi Judy and welcome to HA. With bedsores, one of the most important things you can do is relieve the pressure. Will the donkey allow herself to be rolled over, or does she turn back onto the bad side of her own accord? Her nutritional has to be optimal to maintain and heal tissue - I certainly defer to Dr.O's articles there! If she stays where you put her, can you place a donut type pillow under the sores so they won't contact the ground? Diameter and depth of the lesions, as well as location might help as the discussion proceeds. Pictures would be optimal, and there are those of us who can help if you experience technical difficulties. More people will chime in as the sun rises over here but again, welcome to the board. Stacy
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Aug 24, 2009 - 3:13 am:

Welcome Judy,
Treatment of the wounds will not cure the bed sores, or what we call decubital ulcers. Only relieving the pressure will allow them to heal. Continuous slinging in a support device that spreads the pressure evenly along the ventrum of the burro would be best. I would also note that while the burro is in the sling you can encourage easier standing by splinting the effected leg from the ground to above the knee to encourage standing on all four.

Second best is bandaging as Stacy writes above to protect these pressure spots. For treatment of the wounds I will refer you to Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Wounds / Burns » Long Term Deep Wound Care.
DrO
New Member:
corfud

Posted on Monday, Aug 24, 2009 - 6:01 am:

Thank you both for the advice. I feel I can get on top of the problem now. Will be off to the chemist tomorrow to get the donut rings and will arrange for a splint to be fashioned out of something tomorrow. Have read the articles now on pressure sores and more, very helpful. One question, is radial nerve injury painful or is the fact that she holds her leg in a DrOpped shoulder fashion a kind of reflex, if you get my meaning? I wish I had found this forum years ago!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 25, 2009 - 3:48 am:

Thank you for the kudos Judy. The shoulder DrOp following the initial trauma is due to muscular weakness. In order for the muscles that hold the shoulder up to do their job they require activation by the nerve. If the nerve is damaged the muscles go limp and then start to atrophy. For more on this see For more on this see, Diseases of Horses » Nervous System » Neurological Conditions Not Covered Above » Shoulder Sweeny.
DrO
New Member:
corfud

Posted on Friday, Sep 11, 2009 - 10:14 am:

Hi, thought you might be interested in an update on our donkey. Having read all the info on radial nerve injury I was concerned because she really could not stand at all. I wondered whether the damage was so bad and would take so long to recover, whether I should put her through possibly a years treatment. This would be impossible for us anyway, as in the winter we have very little help and certainly not 4 people that are needed to get her in her sling. Bearing in mind all our donkeys are very old,and she had been suffering for 23 weeks already, I decided to put her to sleep. However, unsuprisingly the vet wouldn't come that day (half day) and so we had to wait another day. The following morning I noticed a burst abscess on the elbow under a large pressure sore on her affected leg. She seemed must brighter and put weight on her leg for the first time. The next day the entire pressure sore came off and left a gaping wound, but she was standing up all by herself. Since then she has gone from strength to strength. A large wound we can cope with - very interested to read about the cold hosing as a method of cleaning an OPEN wound, but thats what we have done and it is looking good, she certainly is feeling good.
I have no idea why she fell down in the first place and why she couldn't stand or walk. I am thinking that maybe the abcess caused this rather than any radial nerve injury, its just that we didn't see it (neither did our vet).
Thanks for all the brilliant info available, one donkeys life saved already!
New Member:
corfud

Posted on Friday, Sep 11, 2009 - 10:15 am:

Sorry that last post should read 3 weeks.........
Member:
frances

Posted on Friday, Sep 11, 2009 - 1:51 pm:

That is wonderful news.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Sep 11, 2009 - 8:06 pm:

That is great Judy. The important lesson here is always question, question, question assumptions. It is only through repeated testing of our hypothesis from as many different angles as possible are correct diagnosis and treatment possible.
DrO
Home Page | Top of Page | Join Us!
Horseadvice.com is a BBB Accredited Business. Click for the BBB Business Review of this Horse Training in Stokesdale NC