Post KS surgery complications?

[Bounty]

Have any of you lot experienced any complications post KS surgery regarding the healing of the wound?

I feel like crying - it is all going wrong for Rage

 

[maggiehorse]

haven,t any experience of spinal surgery i,m afraid , hope things improve for you , am sending a few healing vibes

 

[merlinsquest]

Awww no..... whats gone wrong

 

[_jetset_]

What has happened with the scar?

 

[Bounty]

He came home 4 days post op with instructions to change the dressing as and when needed - Willesley anticipated that we would have to change it possibly 4 times between coming home and having his stitches taken out 2 weeks post op.

It continued to weep a fair amount, and then the middle section of the wound became infected whilst the rest continued to heal well. He was put onto IM penicillin as the AB's in his feed weren't touching the infection at all.
He then reacted to this 4 days onto the course - his neck swelled up and he was unable to eat off the floor, cue being moved on back onto 2 bute a day.

He had the stitches removed on schedule yesterday as vet thought part of the infection was being caused by his body trying to reject the stitches (they are very coarse) so we had them removed from the whole length of the wound. The infected middle section was a small, open flesh channel of less than an inch in width. We were left with instructions to clean it with dilute hibi, put flavidine (sp?) cream on it and dress it.

Went to change the dressing this morning and the infected section is now gaping at 2inches wide and the internal stitches which are holding the muscles together are clearly visible. Infection has broken out in a smaller section further along as well.

*sob*

He is being an absolute saint, thankfully, but it makes it all the more heartbreaking that he is having to go through so much

 

[_jetset_]

My mare rejected the sutures in her colic surgery wound and I ended up with a whole in that when an abscess formed which had to be removed.

Has your vet (who removed the stitches) seen it today if it is open 2 inches?

I am pretty sure that there are several levels of stitches, but I would get it checked

If it is open though, the good thing about that is that the infection is not trapped in if that makes sense, and you can keep it clean and treated.

 

[Butterbean]

My horse has recently had KS surgery, he also had an infection in the wound though not as bad as yours sounds. It was weeping and gunky for ages, I had to change the dressing twice a day.
After a couple of weeks vet took a couple of stitches out to allow the wound to drain more, it gaped probably less than an inch though and i couldn't see any internal stitches. The wound started healing better once that was done and by 4 weeks after the op he had all his stitches out. Stayed on antibiotics for quite a while, mind you he is back on them now having injured himself when he exploded & escaped from me on one of our walks!

I'd get the vet out to check it over, they may be able to reassure you. Can understand how you are feeling as I panicked a lot with the infection. And there is still a long way for both of us to go!

 

[Bounty]

Thanks both, hearing your experiences has been good.

Vet hasn't seen it today but have spoken with my own vets initially and then spoke to Willesley for a second opinion. We've done the 'it's our fault, we did something wrong' wibble but both vets have reassured us that it is just something that happens unfortunately, but if we feel we can't cope either practice are happy to have him in until the wound is more manageable.
Both vets have said that it will just have to heal through secondary (granulation tissue) healing, so will take a long time at 1mm a day

It is too far gaping for them to be able to pull it back together with stitches again anyway.
His walking in hand is out on hold until it is considerably more healed, and then his 12 weeks of rehab starts then.

He is on powdered AB's for the forseeable future but they don't seem to be touching the infection at all

Vet is coming again monday anyway so will check him then, if we haven't already panicked and had him admitted to horsepital!

 

[fiarmay]

I've been looking after a mare who had to have an ovary removed as it was a benign tumour the size of a grapefruit. She was supposed to come home after 5 days but her wound broke down and she ended up staying 4 weeks.
Tihis is what it looked like when she came home

I had to wash it with dilute iodine and stitch a dressing to a sheet which she wore all the time. This is what it looks like after 3 1/2 weeks at home.

She was on an antibiotic called Baytril which was a liquid for in feed. Just trying to give you some hope that they do mend.

 

[Bounty]

Thanks pinchaninch, that has really made me feel better. She is healing so nicely!

I will ask the vet on monday about changing his antibiotics, he is on Norodine granules atm but they don't seem to be having any effect.

Welcome to HHO by the way!

 

[_jetset_]

This was Grace's when she had the suture abscess removed on 8th April... it healed over within three weeks and now you can barely see it. All there is visible is a slightly wider bit of scar tissue which will eventually get the same hair on it that the rest of the scar has.

I know it is not the size of the one pinchaninch has posted, or the one you have on your hands Bounty... but it just shows how quickly they heal. This whole was down to the muscle lining.

 

[BethH]

Oh goodness, you poor thing, as if surgery isn't enough to worry about in the 1st place, you sound very very unlucky to have to deal with this. I don't know if this helps, but after Ryans KS op, he split his stitches just before they were due to be taken out about 12 days post op, he was broncing around his stable like an utter wally! Anyway I had massive panick atttack as he had an inch round hole in the wound which looked horrid, vet said couldn't even stitch it back together and I thought it would scar horribly and it was right under the saddle where one of the bones had been cut! Anyway, he has healed marvellously, no sign of scar and it mended really quickly have fingers crossed this will be the case with you.

Just a couple of tips but refer to your vet to confirm ok, there is an antibiotic injection your vet can give you to administer which is stronger and really helps, one of my liveries has just had to use it for a really deep cut and it has done a good job I will try to find out the name for you. Also put some dried marigold heads into his feed they encourage soft tissue healing and can help a little with any swelling, health food shops sell it, it is pretty cheap, just a small handful in each feed. Also once any infection has gone from the wound use calendular oil on it (this is marigold oil) it really helps knit the wound together, I used it on Ryan with one or two drops of rosemary and it helps the healing and swelling and the rosemary helps trigger any undamaged hair folicles to regrow. You must make sure there is no infection left though as you don't want to seal the infection in.

Hope that helps, feel free to pm me if you need to chat about any concerns but I have everything crossed for you that Rage starts to heal quickly.

 

[Bounty]

Thank you both, really - I am just hoping it will all heal quickly and smoothly. I was most worried about compromising the muscles by not being able to crack on with the exercise plan, but Willesley assure me that he will be fine. Horses are NEVER simple!!!

Beth - he was having intramuscular penicillin but reacted badly to it. He will have some ultra strong AB's intravenously on monday, but they wanted to let him get over the reaction from the IM jabs first before potentially upsetting him further. I am certainly not confident enough (aside from the legality of it?) to inject IV, so not sure whether that would be a feasible longterm plan anyway.

I will look into the marigolds, and homeopathic-orientated friend has suggested that I feed him arnica to help too, and given me a number which I will ring on monday for advice.



I will try and get some pictures of the wound in the morning, it was oozing marginally less this evening, but still pretty dramatic

 

[_jetset_]

Tophorse on here used manuka honey and her boy's scar which became infected... it may be worth PMing her as I know she has got it completely healed now

 

[BethH]

Try not too worry too much, Ryan was still only able to walk out in hand for 5-10 mins once a day after 5wks as he was so hyper, that's how he split his stitches, Willersley told me not to worry and he was fine, I think it is more that 6mths box rest and no moving around is bad but a couple of weeks is not a big deal (easy for me to say I know) and your vet sounds like they are dealing with it, it is just the waiting for it to improve that is so hard. Have everything crossed that Monday sorts the problem out too, despite all of my setbacks with Ryan, I was still able to get back on him 14wks post op which amazed me, once that wound starts to heal and you can start your groundwork, you will be shocked at how quickly Rage moves forward I am sure, If he is anything like Ryan, the wound is nothing in comparison to how he felt before the op, he is probably more comfortable now despite the infection.

As for the herbal remedies, they really did seem to help Ryan, Arnica is good for shock and bruising so your friend has a point about it helping the wound also you could look at Comfrey (otherwise known as bone knit) or Devils claw, both are quite strong so you need to be careful and take advice on the amounts to use but I put Devils claw in Ryans feed for about a month along with the marigold after the op, they are all very good at helping to encourage healing.

I don't know if you have heard of Neals Yard Remedies but their stuff is very good quality and the oils reasonably priced too, this is their website: www.nealsyardremedies.com you could always have a look and see if anything looks helpful. Do let me know how you get on and you know where I am if you need to scream!

 

[Bounty]

Sorry for being so lax in replying/updating - I honestly do appreciate all help and advice, but I am just finding it hard to summon the energy to think about this at the moment

Basically....


Rage is much brighter in himself, which is the main thing as he was getting very out-of-sorts. The wound isn't so infected now and we have some nice granulation tissue coming, I think it will almost certainly grow proud and need cutting back though

We just need to get the infection gone and then we can crack on with manuka dressings (miracle working stuff!) and I am considering laser treatment to help speed the healing up - any experiences?

 

[cazza]

Once the infection is gone the lazer treatment is great, my friends pony had a terribly shredded leg and the lazer treatment did it the world of good, it help with it healing a lot quicker and broke down alot of the granulated tissue that had formed. A year after you would never have known that he had shredded his leg apart.

 

[alisonpook]

Bounty - If you are looking at the homeopathic route it is well worth looking at manuka honey as recommended by Jetset. I believe they did a trial recently in Welsh hospitals and found it very successful against the MRSA bug which normal methods had failed to kill off. An elderly relative swears by it for her ulcerated sores. I believe it may come in different strengths. Healing vibes by the bucket load.

 

[Bounty]

Thanks both.

Ellie - I have used manuka extensively in the past on another of my horses to help with a wound that was growing proud etc, it was wonderful.
I can't use it quite yet as I don't have the full support of my vet, so will continue using the prescribed creams until the infection has gone. We can't afford to do anything to jeopardise our insurance claim at the moment!