Wound Help

[greysmom]

So Dude had his stitches removed yesterday from his back leg amp. He really is doing very well overall.

 

BUT - The lower part of the incision did not heal and they left some of the stitches in, to come out next week, and there is a big open wound that is, for lack of a better description - juicy, weeping, and on the verge of being infected. It needs to have the air get to it, but he also keeps laying on it, so leaving it without any sort of covering is really not an option. I've tried several different ways of bandaging - loose gauze and tape, large sterile pad with sticky edges, large wound bandage and cloth tape, large sterile pad and regular surgical tape. Nothing stays on. The wound is too mobile, and wet, for anything sticky to stay on his skin.

 

I've been spraying it with antibiotic neosporin spray and antiseptic spray, and using a wound wash to keep it clean. He's also on antibiotics 3x's a day. The open part is about 2 1/2 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. There really isn't any way (that I can see) that the vet would be able to re-stitch the area. There's just not enough to grab onto.

 

I have Granulomex spray, but didn't have a lot of success when I tried it on a play nip wound several months ago. Should I try it on this wound?

 

Any advice would be appreciated. I don't mind managing open wounds at home, and I've done it successfully before. This is right on the edge of what I'm comfortable with though. I just feel like I'm missing something. If I can't keep it covered we'll have to go back in and see what they can do.

[Sambuca]

No advice as to the wound care, but what about a pair of boxers with that leg sewn shut at the bottom or even just open? I know when my boy had a thing removed from his thigh that the boxers stayed on well and seemed comfortable to him. They aren't going to be as easy to put on him because he'll have to lift his back leg up, but you can probably get them most of the way on while he's lying down.

[Guest sweetpea]

My sister manages human wounds, so take this with a grain of salt.

 

Your assessment that the vet won't be able to re-stitch is probably right on.

What my sister would do with a human wound like what you're describing is "pack" the wound, loosely, with gauze,

and then wrap around his whole body. It's hard for me to guess where his "landmarks" are in relation to

the wound, so this might not even be feasible. (Landmarks being, his tail, his remaining leg, his manly bits)

 

The dressing would absorb the weeping, and would protect the wound so it could heal from the inside out.

 

Hopefully folks who've dealt with amputation will have workable solutions for you.

 

Good luck, and smooches to Dood!

 

Buzzy

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

I've heard of a lot of people having luck using boxers or boxer briefs for rear amps. You can sew up the extra leg hole, then put them on backwards so his tail sticks out the fly.

 

Personally, I would suggest not using neosporin on it at all. All of my vets have always told me not to use it on major wounds. It's fine on little abrasions, but surgical wounds are a different matter. If your vet gave you a rinse for the wound, just use that and keep it loosely covered with the boxers. Keeping it clean and using the systemic antibiotics is the best way to go IMO.

 

Did your vet do a culture on the wound to see what antibiotics would be best? That would tell you for sure if it is infected and it would make sure the antibiotics are effective.

[Guest 2dogs4cats]

My grey has an open wound from a tumor surgery. There wasn't enough skin to stitch the area, so it remained open. I cleaned around the wound with saline and then smeared 15+ grade Manuka honey onto a piece of gauze big enough for the area and just stuck the gauze to the wound. The honey is sticky enough to keep it on even though the wound may be wet. Then I just covered the area with pajamas. You could get 4 legged jammies and then cut and close one leg to keep it loosely covered. The gauze will just fall off in a few hours but the honey stays on the area. The wound granulated in 2 days and honey is a natural antiseptic to help avoid infection. I put the honey on twice a day and it really speeds the healing! At first, the wound sort of gets very red and almost looks worse, but it's healing from the inside out. After a week, it should look like it's healing on the outside as well. Open wounds are scary, but they just take time.

 

Sending healing thoughts for your pup!

[greysmom]

I treated it with a rinse and then granulex, a loose bandaid, and a pair of dhs briefs. I'd like to be able to keep it open, but he lays down right on it. The antibiotic pills are just the same oness he got after surgery. It's not infected yet and I want to try and keep it that way! We'll see how it looks in the morning and hopefully we'll avoid the vet.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Guest IrskasMom]

I really have no Advice But Please give Dude Mega Hugs from me

[4My2Greys]

Chris, the best advice I can give is to use Manuka honey to heal the wound site. Here are a couple of links showing the effectiveness of Manuka honey in wound care.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/rhhhy91wlb5fp365

http://www.honeymarkproducts.com/wound-care-with-manuka-honey-in-pediatric-hematology-oncology.aspx

 

I've used it myself to heal a seriously infected wound on Nadir. I applied it to a sterile Telfa pad and used it to cover the wound. It not only highly effective at fighting infection, but provides a moist environment which helps promote healthy tissue

granulation for minimal scarring.

 

ETA one more link, although it is referred to here as Leptospernum Honey.

 

http://www.dermasciences.com/products/advanced-wound-care/medihoney/inside-the-u-s

Edited February 4, 2011 by 4My2Greys

[Batmom]

Could you email your vet a picture? Some things that look otherwise are surprisingly stitchable/stapleable, and they heal faster that way.

 

Most wounds do best by being left alone as far as possible. Our go-to procedure here for things that can't be stitched (and some things that are stitched) is big glob of SSD ointment on the bandage, plop on wound, repeat as needed, NO cleaning in between bandage changes.

[Guest mcsheltie]

If it weeping and juicy, it is already infected. I would start him on the antibiotics ASAP. If it doesn't start to look better soon your vet will need to clean up the incision, otherwise it will not heal correctly.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

No ideas, just sending hugs, scritches, and good thoughts to the Dude man.

[greysmom]

Heading back to the vet. Crap.

[4My2Greys]

Heading back to the vet. Crap.

 

Oh No! Chris, I'm keeping you, Dennis and Dude in my thoughts and prayers and sending lots of white light. Nadir remains suited up to send out healing beamz for his bestest buddy.

 

.

[JohnF]

I'd second the use of strong grade Manuka Honey.

Another natural fast-granulating treatment is the fresh green sap squeezed from the base of a cut Aloe Vera plant leaf.

[Guest sheila]

I have an idea. What about the boxer shorts and then line the area inside the shorts with self adhesive panty liners or maxi pads? That way nothing is actually adhering to the actual dog that is going to fall off. This way you could have it some way open to air and change the dressing as needed.

[Charla]

You can get AquaCell Silver at a surgical supply store; it absorbs the goo, only needs to be changed every three days or so and has antibacterial silver embedded in it. Looks kind of like a piece of gray drier lint but it works! It's used on humans post amp all the time and should stay on if you cover it with a Kerlex fluff that you can change out as needed. Use normal saline to clean the wound, you don't want a wet wound, but you don't want to really dry it out either ... dry crusty won't heal, ever so slightly moist and pink is good.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Charla

[4My2Greys]

Checking back, hoping for a good update.

[Guest d0ggiem0mma]

How's he doing? I see you went back to the vet... what did they say?

[greysmom]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

 

Dude had surgery yesterday (Friday) afternoon for major infection and debridement of his incision. The infection went very deep into the remains of his leg. He's now home and doing fine. He has a huge bandage at the site - we're doing wet-to-dry changes - at the vet - for the next week or so. {{{{{sigh}}}}}} Plus he's back on pain meds, nsaid, and two kinds of antibiotics.

 

He's acting good and his face has a normal expression so we're doing good!

[Guest HappyHarleysMom]

Aww, sorry to hear he had to go through more work on the wound, but hopefully cleaning it out like that will do the trick.

 

Like Batmom mentioned regarding putting antibiotic cream or whatever on big wounds - my vet told me the same, which was something I hadn't known about. Even with Harley's open pad sore a few weeks ago when we were going through that ordeal, she told me the triple antibiotic stuff would just prohibit healing, to just keep it clean and let the air hit it. It was good to know for future reference.

 

Sending you good thoughts and prayers that Dude's wound is on it's way to getting better now

[Batmom]

Well, drat. Good you got him in and seen, tho, and sounds like he should resume mending now. Hugs and good days going forward.

[greyhead]

So glad you got where you needed to go, Chris, but sorry for all the trouble! Hugs to you both!

[GreytHurleyDawg]

Poor Dude! At least the vet is on top of it and the infected part was removed right away.

 

Hugs for you and Dude!!!

[4My2Greys]

Glad to hear he is back home.