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Emma
Emma, severe vasculitis and skin loss
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Emma is a 2 year old Pitbull. She and her
littermate presented to our hospital on June 23rd, 1 day
after having been for a long walk on a very hot day. Her
littermate passed away.
She was dehydrated, the skin was beginning to
slough from her foot pads, and she was going into
shock. It was also noticed that she was losing hair
from her back. She had irregular heart beats, and was
treated with fluid therapy, antibiotics, pain medications,
and medications to control her arrhythmia.
Emma was suffering from vasculitis.
This resulted in a loss of blood supply to the skin over her
back |
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| After Emma had made
it through the critical stages, she was able to return home.
She came back to the hospital for rechecks and bandage
changes on her feet. (Her foot pads had sloughed off.)
During this time the skin over back continued to die.
She had not been to the hospital for 4 days, and upon her
return, we clipped and cleaned the back and found it as you
see it in the pictures above. Dead Tissue was removed
and the areas were flushed and cleaned. |
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On July 7th, we
place drains under the skin, hoping to provide drainage and
preserve the skin above. It did not work. On July 11th we
removed all of the dead skin and muscle tissue leaving us
with the enormous exposed area you see above. After
cleaning, we treated it with The
Companion Laser. The laser helps to
stimulate healing, reduce pain, and inflammation. We applied
honey (yes regular non pasteurized honey!) special moistened
bandage material, covered it with a diaper, put on a dog
t-shirt and an Elizabethan collar.
Keep an eye on the area where the
black arrow is pointing. These were two tiny
islands of skin that survived. |
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| We treated the
wound twice weekly with bandage change, honey, and most
importantly, the laser.
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| The rate of healing
is remarkable. We did not perform additional surgeries or
skin grafts. Most wounds of this magnitude would take more
than 3 months to heal, not 6 weeks as it did in Emma's case.
In addition, most areas of a severe burn do not regrow
hair(third degree burns usually end up as a hairless scar).
Emma is getting much of her hair back in patches. |
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8/9/2011 |
The hospital last
saw Emma on August 9th, she is moving out of the area. The
owner sent us this picture. Emma did so well for a few
reasons:
* She was a fantastic patient,
ready to lick your face at any moment
* A dedicated owner.
* Wound and Nursing care by
our BBVH team (Danae and Jessica were outstanding)
* Companion Laser to
accelerate healing |
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