Usually, large wounds are sutured closed to facilitate and speed healing. Sometimes, by the time the wound is discovered, it’s too late to suture it. Other times, the wound is under so much tension that the sutures fail. When a wound is left to heal without the help of sutures, it is called healing by “second intention.” Typically, wounds that are left to heal this way take much, much longer.
This large wound was the one that really taught us how much rehab work, particularly the Class IV laser, can help to speed healing. The time between the first picture and the last picture is THREE weeks. We cleaned and gently debrided this wound daily and kept a light dressing in place using “stay sutures.” These are large suture loops tacked to the skin that allow us to keep a bandage over a hard-to-bandage area.
We used our Class IV laser on this wound several times per week. Laser therapy improves blood flow and helps to increases cellular metabolism, speeding waste product removal and stimulating new cell proliferation.
This wound healed right before our eyes!
Here is the initial wound. Note the stay sutures placed in the skin. These are used to hold the bandage in place.
Here is the wound with its bandage in place.
Exercise restriction is important for a wound like this. This horse spent a few weeks hand grazing instead of being turned out.
Here is the wound three weeks later!