Lucy: Rehabilitation After a Barn Fire

Lucy is a sweet mare who was lucky enough to survive a barn fire, but she sustained severe burns over her withers and back. She was immediately taken to a hospital where she was stabilized and then transported to VRSVA for the long road to recovery.

Burn wounds are unique in that the full extent of tissue damage is not evident until a few weeks after injury, as the skin sloughs. The burns will appear significantly worse each day for several weeks before they begin to look better.  Once devitalized tissue is removed, the wounds will begin to granulate or fill in and then will begin contraction and epithelialization as new skin is formed.

Initially, continued supportive care and pain control was paramount for Lucy. Her pain was assessed daily and medications were adjusted based on her pain scores. It was uncomfortable for Lucy to stretch her head to the ground, so all feed was elevated for her. Horses with this kind of pain can be prone to impaction colics and gastrointestinal ulceration, so special attention is paid to preventing these problems. 

Daily debridement under sedation was performed to keep the wounds clean, to prevent infection and to remove damaged tissue. At the height of sloughing, some of Lucy’s wounds extended down to bone. Careful and frequent cleaning was required to prevent infection. Lucy’s burns were treated often with the Class IV laser to increase cell turnover and encourage organized tissue healing. We have consistently been amazed at how dramatically the laser speeds wound healing.

While she will always have significant scarring from her burns, Lucy has healed beautifully. She is a happy girl and we are so thankful to have been a part of her recovery.