degloved wound(pics added)

[solsfriendpipin]

my sons pony got injured while we were away at hoys,she had got herself stuck in the fence looking at the ground she was there sometime,i phoned a good friend who went to check on her,she said she needed the vet,so from n.e.c got all that sorted,
traveling home husband phoned with vet report said she had two puncture wounds,vet had dry polticed and bandage her,he wasnt worried because it wasnt in the joint and not down to the bone,i was told to change bandage today,so my friend came to help dont think i will ever get over what was under the bandage i was expecting 2 holes,but what had happened the flesh round the front of the leg inbetween the two punctures had gone the vet said its a degloved wound its about inch thick around the front of the leg,so the vet has been back cleaned all the leg back up,filled the leg and she has the biggest bandage on i have ever seen,vets coming back tomorrow to see how the wounds looking,
would love to hear from anyone how has had a similar injury and the outcome,i will not be giving up on her with out a fight x

[thimble]

Oh poor you. What a nightmare to come home to. I have never had this with a pony, but I had a whippet bit*h who got stepped on by a pony, and she had all the hair and skin taken off her front leg. It was awful. They were going to operate then discovered she had heart murmur. It had to heal on its own, and it did. The hair eventually re grew. Lots of TLC. Good luck.

[sageandonion]

I had a horse who impaled himself on the top of the school fence jumping into it from the paddock below (school built up with a bank). The wound was in the arm pit area, about a foot long and very deep. I filled it with a whole hand towel whilst I waited for the vet and vomited in my school the wound was that horrific. He had it stitched up but the wound became infected and it broke down so he had intravenous antibiotics and spent a month in the vets until he was able to travel home.

Three months later he was being turned out as right as ninepence.

It is more often the small insignificant wounds that cause the long term problems.

[kew]

Our young section B had a degloving injury - as a 2 year old she ran through an electric wire and took the skin off from knee to fetlock. Literally hung down round her fetlock like a baggy sock. Down to the bone in parts. Luckily for her we saw it happen, got her in, kept the wound clean and covered and got her to the vets very quickly.

She was stitched and whilst some skin died off and she spent 6 weeks on box rest being bandaged, having strong antibitoics and antibacterial ointment and having a lot of tlc she is left with a pretty small scar and I can reassure you that almost from day one she hasn't been lame and it now doesn't trouble her whatsoever.

[norwalk]

I suppose you have to trust the vet, but my gut reaction would be to keep the wound moist with dermagel or suchlike to try and avoid proud flesh...? Not an expert, but I feel that most things heal better and with least scarring of you can keep them from drying out too much and scab formation in the early days...
As I say, please dont take my comments as firm advice, as each case is different and a vet is far more qualified than I am (obviously!!!), but if it was mine I would be asking for good reasons for dry poulticing without a wound gel of some sort
(although you HAVE puncture wounds too.... so could explain the poultice).
I had a pony with a kick right under the fetlock, quite deep - you could put your finger in it, although small on the surface.
We use a vet who does homeopathy as well as "drugs" - treated it with a combination and pony is sound and happy now.
Good luck, and let us all know how you get on!!!

[solsfriendpipin]

Thanks for the replies and postive comments it does seem theres light at the end of the tunnel for her,she only had the dry poultice on when he thought it was a puncture,shes now fully bandage think its a robert jones to support her leg,hes coming daily to change it so theres no infection,so far so good theres granulation forning and the flesh below and above the wound is still alive,so fingers crossed x

[kew]

That sounds really positive - keeping any infection at bay and keeping the wound moist with dermagel was critical in Polly's case and any skin/flesh that did die off did so pretty quickly - within days. Sounds like your little pony is busy trying to heal herself which is the best news ever.

Your friend's quick thinking and action was so important - I was told by my vet that if I'd not discovered the injury until a few hours later it would have been too late to stitch and she would have had to have extensive skin grafting and it was unlikely to have had a good outcome.

Polly had no proud flesh and the scar she's left with is flat and amazingly small. If you PM with me with your email address I can send you reassuring pics!

[sarahp]

I don't know if it counts as a degloving, but I had a yearling with a bad bite on his side this year. At first it didn't look much, but it then started oozing fluid and it turned out the skin was detached from the underlying flesh for an area about the size of a man's out spread hand. It all fell off, leaving a not deep but very widespread wound that I thought would never have skin or flesh on again, with pockets going off in all directions. Today there isn't even a scar, slightly lumpy but that's all. He stayed in and it had to be dressed every day, luckily he was a lamb to do, but could not be bandaged because of the position of the wound. I would never have believed that such an extensive would could heal like that unless I'd seen it for myself. No stitching or skin grafting.

Good luck.

[solsfriendpipin]

vets been today,like you say sarahp you really have to see it yourself yourself how amazing horses are at healing ,its day 4 of changing the bandages and the wound has improved so much,vet told me to get her some manuka honey and hes been so positive,i know were a long way of but were heading in the right direction atm,will keep you all posted thankyou x

[roseview]

I had a show pony do this as a 3yo. It was horrific and it had also affected the joint fluid sac. She underwent surgery and had a huge Robert Jones bandage applied. She was on box rest for some time at the yard where she had been for producing. She then came home to me. At that stage there was a really obvious wound right around the leg, just below the knee and movement was restricted. This was scar tissue. I was not prepared to give up on her and hired in an ultrasound machine, treating her twice daily, along with some physical therapy, stretching exercises etc. She came right in time, apart from just a few white hairs and has been a consistent winner in the ring ever since.

[sjm]

a friends horse sliced a big chunk out of the top of her leg, you could see the bone and tendons had simailar treatment , and 6 week on its healing up great.

[Deleted]

I had a yearling filly that got stuck in the wire fence overnight, we thought she had escaped as there was nothing to see when I released her, but three days later it all erupted, it was a massive wound, right down to the bone which was visible 3/4 of the way around the leg, only the back tendon intact but tattered, you could get your hand right around and in the wound - wish I had taken pics now! - anyway a long story cut short, first vet wanted to pts - I got a second opinion from an old farm vet; I also work with his wife - we are in the nursing proffession.
He said you treat it like a leg ulcer in people - which I did and it has healed up well. I tried manuka honey but it made it smell rotten so quickly stopped, I used intracite gel, bandaged & flushed with sterile water every two days.

[Louise Dixon]

A few years ago I had a yearling with a similar type of injury, all skin/flesh etc from front and sides of off hind cannon gone, right down to the bone. It was treated with manuka honey, the pony was an inpatient at the vet's, but that was just because I was heavily pregnant at the time so couldn't dress it myself. It had to be dressed for about 12 weeks (dressing from hoof to stifle), and took about 6 month to heal totally, leaving a wee bump and scar. The pony has just been backed and is doing great, although getting him to this stage cost a lot more than the value of the pony!

[kew]

You've just reminded me Jane - it was intracite gel not dermagel. Fab stuff- saw it for sale at HOYS and grabbed some for the first aid kit.

[solsfriendpipin]

Thanks everyone for the postive comments and thanks kew for the pics,our pony is 2year old connie so hope fully she still has ridden future to look forward to x x

[solsfriendpipin]

todays news different vet came and had really upset me,
more bothered about the cost,said ponys only got 50/50 chance of recovering didnt even want to use the honey the other vet had sent me for,has left bandages for me to change saturday and hes coming back monday . . . .im fully aware this is going to take months,how do i go about treating her myself,i understand long term i couldnt have the vet coming everyday and apart from the powders shes on atm,i can buy everything online,shes isnt on pain killers as first vet said if she can manage without its best for the healing theres no normal signs shes in pain,shes eating fine and is happy in herself so dont want to give up on her

[judyh]

I would use LOCAL honey. Cheapest way to heal it .Have posted on here before about success with this on a massive wound when operation stitches burst. Surely you can change the dressing without a vet?
I would also use a laser. I would think they can still be hired, my vet was brilliant and sorted it out-did say he had never sent a horse home with so much medication and equipment before. Took a year on antibiotics, seems funny two vets with opposing views. Would stick to the first!!!

[Deleted]

Don't give up; just shout if you need an ear. If you lived local ish I could come and look/ help.

[Deleted]

My lad got caught on something in the field and a hole in the front of his fetlock, was bandaged and couldnt be stitched with it being on the joint, my mum bought 'EquiAid' and worked wonders and healed in no time! Prevents proud flesh too! Hope yours is okay and doing well

[pollycrystal]

Oh Laura, what a bloody awful thing to happen, I'm so sorry. If I can do anything at all just say, or just come round for a cuppa xx

[solsfriendpipin]

thanks so much means alot xx

[bothered]

We had a youngster with a similar serious injury. I consulted with a colleague at work who was a specialist wound care nurse. We used intrasite gel and kept the wound dressed with a range of specialist dressings. We disturbed the wound as little as possible following advice and the wound healed leaving not a mark. Her advice was that Wounds need warmth and moisture to heal and by leaving the dressing on as long as possible, the new tissue growth is not disturbed. It is surprising the wide range of specialist wound care resources you can purchase over the counter and the pharmacists are usually very helpful, particularly when you explain the circumstances.

[solsfriendpipin]

thanks to everyone who has replied its been brill to read so many positive comments,with my friends at home and horsegossip friends,we have the best chance to get her better its our first bandage change today without the vet so fingers crossed and my friend hasnt seen it since last sunday so hope she sees the difference,will keep you updated,may even be brave enough to get a photo

[judyh]

Make sure you don't put the bandage on too tightly.

[solsfriendpipin]

super news from the vet, (the 2nd one with the negative head on on thursday ) really pleased with the healing and that we have managed to change the bandages ourself,hes not coming back till next monday so were left to look after her this week,just of shopping for a supply of bandages

[smiggs]

Phew....thank god my bandaging skills were up to scratch!! Im so pleased she is doing well, I couldn't believe the difference in it, it looked fab.... we will defo have to take a picture on Wednesday :-) x

[Deleted]

I used a lot of cotton wool wrap bandage and vet wrap.

[nici]

About 10 years ago I came across a 4 or 5 year old pony on a dealer's yard, who had terrible injuries to all four legs. She had fallen into the local brook in winter and been unable to climb out. Her owners, not seeing her in the field, had apparently reported her stolen, and she wasn't found for 2 days. She was crane lifted out of the water, but over the next few days the flesh rotted away on her legs, where they had been in the cold polluted water for so long. As she was smelling so much, she was moved from the barn she'd been in and came to the yard where I kept my own pony on livery. Her legs were badly swollen and she was very stiff as she hadn't been out of her stable, and she had huge areas of flesh with no skin. She was also very underweight.

I started to spend time with her, taking her for walks around the yard, grooming her, just generally giving her some much needed TLC. When my vet came for my pony's routine jabs I asked him to take a look at her, and he advised just leaving the wounds to heal on their own, just keeping them clean and applying udder cream to keep the skin supple and try to stop it cracking, given the time already passed since the accident.

This was Lucky a couple of weeks later, when I first turned her out in the manege (14 March 2002)...





10 days later



By the 19th April - the day I bought her from the dealers so that I could continue her care (they were going to take her back to their barn as she was no longer smelly) - you can see definite healing progress





Her legs more or less healed in time, but with some proud flesh, and occasional cracking open inside the hock joints, however she was sound and back in work (as advised by the vet, to increase the circulation and blood supply to her legs) within a couple of months - this photo was taken in May 2002



Fast forward a couple of years, and here's a very young Cerys having a little sit on her, May 2004



Lucky is still mine, however she is now on permanent loan to a lady with special needs, who has find in her a kindred spirit. They have a lovely relationship together, and Lucky gets the best possible care, and a gentle life, being much loved with nothing asked in return except cuddles and the occasional gentle ride. She started to suffer with arthritis in her hocks a few years ago (believed to be a result of the period spent immersed in freezing water), however she gets the best supplements available and is sound for light work.

She's a lovely pony, and I'm so glad I stepped in when I did.

[sarahp]

Good for you for giving her a chance. Udder cream is great stuff!

[fanfarefan]

aahhh well done nici for perservering with her ,such dedication !!!!