No Healing After 10 Days Of Staples?

[kudzu]

One of my dogs came in from the yard with a skin tear on her neck just behind her right ear just over a week ago. Vet put 4 staples in to close it, issued 7 days of cephalexin & sent us on our way. No complications & by all appearances things were fine. Was going to have them out tomorrow but little girl decided late yesterday to start scratching at them. Decided today we couldn't protect her from herself well enough & there was some crusty stuff forming around the stapled area, presumably from her scratching at them. So off to e-vet for staple removal. They took her in the back & soon returned with her. Vet tech says, "We have a dilemma." The staples had come out fine & they cleaned some of the crustiness/scabs/whateveritwas off. Not sure in which order. Which left the wound wide open again & looking exactly as it had 10 days ago! Seriously to all of us it looked like absolutely no healing had taken place. **? So they numbed her up again & this time did two layers of stitching, inside & out. Now we wait another 10 days & pray.

 

Why? Why no healing? The area looked quite healthy if you thought of it as a brand new wound. They had no explanation. I'm quite honestly stunned.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Maybe the skin in that area is just so thin that only the crusty stuff was holding things together? That the staples pulled out of the skin itself right away, leaving the crusty stuff, and the skin wasn't pulling so it didn't open up?

 

I had a girl who chewed her stitches out after 7 days. The e-vets didn't restitch, and Oreo just healed with a quarter-sized scar (and bald spot) in the crease of her elbow.

[cleptogrey]

the 2 layers should work. i used a bite-not collar on felix when he had his side stapled. 2 seperate incidents, on a L shaped tear- 14 staples,the other he was nailed on the back by a tooth- 6 staples. the collar really worked for some reason. he was a tad clumbsy w/ it on and couldn't turn his head and it seemed to stop any annoyance to the wound site. i sparingly use frankenscence for healing- it stinks but a drop or two daily and it has remarkable healing powers. my adoption rep who happens to be a vet swears by it. she applied it to a nasty cut on felix's hock(down to the bone) which was healing really sloooooowly(every time he steped it reopened) and it seemed to speed up the healing. the health food stores carry it- and so did the wise men when they brought gifts to baby jesus!

[tbhounds]

I wondered if the staples pulled through therefore not allowing the opposable edges to knit together? She's not taking pred right now is she??

[JJNg]

While most sutured/stapled wounds are healed in 10 days, I wouldn't be too concerned yet. It might just need more time. Or it's possible the crusty buildup was keeping the wound edges from healing together. If it still doesn't heal with the 2 layer closure, you might need to investigate further. A number of other factors can delay wound healing, such as infection (might need a stronger antibiotic), various meds (such as pred), or underlying conditions (ie. hypothyroidism).

[kudzu]

Thanks. Hopefully it was some sort of fluke. She is not, has not been on pred nor any other drugs until the anti-b for this event. Has been off the anti-b for days & they did not refill. Sure doesn't appear infected at all but what do I know. If hypo-t her only symptom would be hair loss but honestly that seems to be a spring shed. Hair in the shaved area is growing back so I'm not inclined to go that route yet. Will see what the next couple weeks bring.

 

Think someone will be sporting socks when the current neck wrap comes off. It's right where cone 'o shame or bitenot collars would rub. We'll see. Thanks again.

[Batmom]

Had this happen once. Healed fine after resuturing. Mysteries of the universe.