Understanding horse wounds

Knowing how wounds heal will help with their treatment, says Kim Dyson.

Understanding horse wounds
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Where I worked in England, there were many horses that lived outdoors. I was in charge of feeding them twice a day, and so had the opportunity to examine them for cuts, scratches and swellings. Some wounds are merely grazes – scrapes in the first layer of the skin. With a cut or laceration, the full thickness of the skin is broken and the tissue underneath is exposed.

A third type, the puncture wound, can be very serious, as the foreign body that punctured the skin may still be in the wound, causing an abscess. The type of wound will determine the treatment, although the general principle for all wounds is ‘tetanus first, treatment second’.

Grazes
Let’s begin with a graze, where the hair is rubbed off. I find the best way to deal with such an injury is to give it a good wash with saline solution (two tablespoons salt to 1l water) and then leave it alone. Creams and sprays just attract dirt and slow down the healing.

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It is unlikely that you will need to contact a vet for a graze. But on rare occasions, when a horse has a compromised immune system, cellulitis may occur. This happens when a bacterial infection enters the body through the graze, and is most commonly seen in leg wounds. Look for swelling a few days after a seemingly minor graze.

Antibiotics and anti-inflammatories are the first line of treatment in cellulitis, then regular cold hosing. In severe cases, the body will ooze serum, which can cause a form of ‘burn’ on the leg, requiring immediate attention from a vet.

Remodelling
Deeper wounds are also best left to a vet, but knowing how healing occurs will help you to better understand how these are treated. First, the blood clots and the white blood cells start to clean up any infection. As the clot matures, it contracts and pulls the edges of the wound closer together.

Skin cells then grow from the edges towards the centre of the wound. Severe wounds produce granulated tissue over four to six days. This forms a bed for the skin cells to grow on while helping to create a defensive barrier. This final stage of repair takes many months; there is no set time to the healing.

The body will always endeavour to return itself to its original state. Small fibres attempt to push through the scar tissue and try to recreate the original tissue type. There are three types of tissue remodelling:

Bone
A broken bone can reshape itself with incredible efficiency. Four things need to occur, though, for this to happen: the ends of the break must remain aligned; the blood supply must be sufficient; the area should not be stressed too much; and infection must be avoided. Gentle walking on hard, level surfaces will help with recovery.

Muscle

Muscle can return to its exact pre-injury state, providing the haematoma was correctly treated. However, research shows that despite appearing healed, new tissue takes six weeks after apparent recovery to match the strength of the surrounding tissue.

Nerve
Peripheral nerve tissue should be visualised as electrical wires in a plastic casing. Undue pressure on this cover prevents the current from ‘flowing’. With the proper treatment, the tissue will repair itself and regain function.