Cellulitis
Filed under: Cellulitis, Emergency, Joint, Laceration, Lameness
Nathan Voris, DVM
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Anyone with a horse has likely walked out to find them with a swollen, painful leg. While there are countless reasons for a horse to become “stoved-up” or “stocked-up”, one of the most common is cellulitis.
Cellulitis can be literally defined as inflammation of subcutaneous tissues. Many times, a cause for the swelling cannot be found, but some common reasons for cellulitis include “scratches” (pastern dermatitis), blunt trauma, lacerations or small puncture wounds. Inflammation, with or without bacterial infection, that is trapped under the skin, is clinically expressed as heat and swelling of the affected tissues thus resulting in a swollen, painful leg. Many times the horse will be severely lame and might even have a fever.
Treatment of cellulitis often includes hydrotherapy, sweat/pressure bandaging, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. Efforts should be made to find the inciting injury as other diagnostic tests or treatments might be required to adequately treat the horse’s condition and to check the integrity of underlying bone and soft tissues.
2009 Newsletter
Printed copies of the 2009 Equine Medical Services newsletter have been mailed. If you didn’t receive a copy, or if you would like a digital copy to share with friends, the on-line version can be found at the following link:
http://www.equmed.com/2009%20EquineHealthUpdate.pdf.
If you would like a printed copy mailed to you, please let us know and we will add you to our list.
AAEP 55th Annual Convention
Dr.’s Rob Foss, Paul Schiltz, Nathan Voris and Tawna Purcell attended the American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Convention, the world’s premier continuing education meeting for equine veterinarians. The convention, held in Las Vegas, NV, December 5-9, offered veterinarians the latest advances in equine health care. Scientific sessions covering topics ranging from critical care to lameness were attended by an international gathering of over 2,500 veterinary professionals. Many of the sessions focused on providing new equine health care techniques that can be applied immediately to a veterinarian’s daily practice.
The American Association of Equine Practitioners, headquartered in Lexington, KY, was founded in 1954 as a non-profit organization dedicated to the health and welfare of the horse. Currently, the AAEP reaches more than 5 million horse owners through its nearly 10,000 members worldwide and is actively involved in ethics issues, practice management, research and continuing education in the equine veterinary profession and horse industry.