Skin grafting with the modified Meek technique in the standing horse using full thickness skin: Evaluation of acceptance, wound contraction and wound closure in chronic wounds.

Background: The modified Meek technique is not commonly used in equine wound management, despite the consistent reliable and superior results compared with other grafting techniques. Major drawbacks are the need for specialised, expensive equipment and general anaesthesia.

Objectives: To describe adjustments of the modified Meek technique enabling use in the standing horse without the need for the full equipment.

Limited added value of negative pressure wound therapy compared with calcium alginate dressings for second intention healing in a noncontaminated and contaminated equine distal limb wound model.

Background: Distal limb wounds in horses often show aberrant healing due to a slow inflammatory response. In human medicine, negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is used for the treatment of chronic wounds with a similar inflammatory response.

Objectives: To compare the effect of NPWT to calcium alginate dressings on the healing of (non) contaminated equine distal limb wounds.

The evaluation of the effect of probiotics on the healing of equine distal limb wounds.

The effect of dressings saturated with either a standardized suspension of probiotic bacteria or saline on healing of traumatic distal limb wounds in horses was evaluated for 24 days, and the systemic inflammatory effect was assessed. The wounds were divided in two groups based on the phase of healing: wounds with an incomplete (ICGB) or a complete granulation bed (CGB). The wound area was expressed as percentage of the wound area at day 0 and defined as relative wound area.

Aberrant wound healing in the horse: naturally occurring conditions reminiscent of those observed in man.

Impaired wound healing represents an enormous clinical and financial problem for companion animals and humans alike. Unfortunately, most models used to study healing rely on rodents, which have significant differences in the healing and scarring process and rarely develop complications. In order to better simulate impaired healing, the model should strive to reproduce the natural processes of healing and delayed healing.

Second-intention repair in the horse and pony and management of exuberant granulation tissue.

Second-intention repair is faster in ponies than in horses and faster in body wounds than in limb wounds. To a large extent, the differences between horses and ponies can be explained by differences in the local inflammatory response, which are a result of the functional capacity of leukocytes. In ponies, leukocytes produce more inflammatory mediators,resulting in better local defense, faster cellular debridement, and a faster transition to the repair phases, with more wound contraction.

Transforming growth factor-beta levels during second- intention healing are related to the different course of wound contraction in horses and ponies.

Wound healing in horses is often complicated by wound infection, exuberant granulation tissue, and hypertrophic scars, especially when wounds are located on the limbs. Wound healing in ponies is less problematic, characterized by a greater degree of wound contraction and a more intense initial inflammatory response. Because both processes are influenced by transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), it was hypothesized that the better wound healing in ponies was associated with different TGF-beta profiles.