wound | Horse Racing Free Tips

Study: Does Light Therapy Assist With Wound Healing?

Different forms of light therapy have been touted to have many benefits for equine health, including assisting with healing soft tissue injuries and infections, as well as addressing sprains, strains, arthritis and swellings. But can it assist in healing wounds?

Drs. Peter Michanek, Tamás Toth, Evelina Bergström, Helena Treffenberg‐Pettersson and Anna Bergh used eight Standardbreds to test the effects of pulsating visible red light and near infrared light on skin wounds.

The research team made small, circular wounds on each side of the study horse's neck. The wound on one side was given one light treatment; the wound on the other side was left untreated. The light therapy was given by the same operator throughout the study and followed a standardized protocol: treatment was given five days a week for four weeks.

Healing was monitored by someone who was unaware of which treatment, if any, the wounds had been given. The research team found little difference in the treated and control wounds in any phase of the study. The treated wounds took longer to completely heal than the untreated wounds.

The team concludes that in this study, pulsating visible red light and near infrared light do not speed healing of experimental skin wounds.

Read the study here.

Colic No. 1 Reason For Emergency Vet Calls Study Finds

A University of Nottingham study has found that colic, wounds and lameness are the most common reasons for veterinarian to make emergency calls to visit horses after hours. The study was based on 2,602 emergency calls to two major vet practices between 2011 and 2013.

Drs. Adelle Bowden, Polina Boynova, Marnie Louise Brennan, Gary England, Sarah Freeman, John Burford, Tim Mair and Wendy Furness found that 35 percent (923) of the emergency calls were placed for colic issues; after-hours calls for wounds encompasses 511 calls (11 percent). Emergency calls for lameness accounted for 288 calls (11 percent). Most of the calls (58 percent) needed only a single treatment, but a quarter of the calls needed follow-up treatments.

According to the veterinarians, only 480 of the 2,602 cases were considered critical; 43 percent of those were related to colic. In total, 13 percent of the horse's emergency calls were made for were euthanized. It is unclear if this was related to acute disease or the deterioration of a pre-existing condition.

The study team noted that many of the emergency calls had critical outcomes and the majority were euthanized. They note that this is an important welfare concern that requires additional investigation.

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

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.