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| With my recent experience on my injured mare, I'm curious to hear opinions when it comes to sutures.The treating vet sutured the wound originally, which then had serious complications.My local vet told me he never sutures those types of wounds because it increases risk of infection by not allowing drainage.This is the second injury like this I have dealt with and both times we had serious complications and both wounds were sutured initially.What are your experiences with sutures vs. no sutures? |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
 
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Just depends on where the wound is at. |
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Expert
Posts: 2531
Location: WI | Yes, when and where. My gelding cut his leg on the front of the cannon bone and there isn't even a scar. Pic is the day of, and 2 weeks later. Now you can't see anything there.
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 2weeks.JPG (62KB - 132 downloads)
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | It really depends on the injury, but most of the injuries that I have sutured I make the doctor put a drain in. |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | I don't know the particulars of the OP's situation, but as others have stated, it depends on several factors.
How old is the wound?
Where is it?
Is it grossly contaminated?
Generally, if a wound is more than a few hours old, it will get infected if you suture it completely. It will probably drain pus, swell, or form an abscess in the subcutaneous tissue. Giving antibiotics probably won't prevent this from happening. If it is a longer gash, then you can try to wash it thoroughly with a disinfecting soap, then loosely approximate the skin, while leaving some of it open in between, so as to allow blood and serum to drain. Blood and serum is a perfect medium for bacterial growth. Heavily contaminated open wounds will heal in nicely if you irrigate/wash them twice daily to get rid of the dead stuff and keep the surface bacteria to a minimum. Things like eyelids should be sutured if possible, because it preserves function (protecting the eye). |
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