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Study: Tap Water Fine For Flushing Wounds

Researchers have concluded that tap water, not sterile saline, should be used to wash most equine wounds. As long as water is clean, flushing an injury as soon as it's found can help remove bacteria and dirt, reducing the risk of infection. The water used to flush a wound should be potable, but if only undrinkable water is available, boiling and cooling it is still an option. Distilled water can also be used to safely lavage open injuries.

Drs. Sarah L. Freeman, Neal M. Ashton, Yvonne Elce, Anna Hammond, Anna Hollis and Greg Quinn created guidelines for equine wound management based on evidence they collected from a set of questions proposed to a panel of veterinarians. The scientists also looked at human medicine if equine studies weren't available. In total, they used 306 veterinary studies and 25 human-focused papers to produce their recommendations, which included:

Tap water is recommended for flushing wounds over saline
The best pressure for washing wounds is 13 pounds per square inch (medium pressure)
Contaminated wounds should be flushed with provide-iodine
silver sulfadiazine may slow healing of acute wounds

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Not Just Good For The Gut: Probiotics Help Heal Wounds In Horses

Researchers in the Netherlands have found that equine wounds treated with a dressing impregnated with probiotics heal more quickly than when a dressing soaked in saline is used. Probiotics are live microorganisms that are beneficial to the host; they also compromise some bacteria.

Drs. Jacintha Wilmink, Søren Ladefoged, Angelique Jongbloets and Johannes C. M. Vernooij used 29 horses with lower leg wounds that were less than 6 months old and were more than 1.5 square inches. Most of the wounds were caused by trauma, but some wounds were caused from pressure.

Fifteen wounds were treated with probiotics and 14 were treated with sterile saline. The wounds were categorized into those with an incomplete granulation bed and wounds with a complete granulation bed.

Horsed were evaluated for 24 days, with bandage changes nine times during the study. Wounds were cleaned with swabs moistened with sterile saline and debris was removed. Blood was drawn and wounds were swabbed to identify the bacteria present.

The study team found that wound area decreased faster when dressings that contained probiotics were applied; the rate to 50 percent healing of wounds with a complete granulation bed was 3.4 times faster when probiotics were used in the wound dressing. No systemic inflammation was found from using the dressing with probiotics.

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Read the full study here.

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