AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

Horses regularly injure themselves and cause large skin defects that need to be managed by equine veterinarians. These wounds can take a long time, often months in some cases to heal. Equine veterinarians often do not fully pursue available surgical options to close these defects because of cost. When the cost of bandaging and associated treatment is taken into account then many options become attractive. An option that is uncommonly used are grafting techniques which can be surprisingly easy and cheap to perform and regularly result in significant improvements in the rate of closure. The principles of initial wound management and of plastic and reconstructive surgery will be reviewed with a focus on what works and what doesn’t to allow for improved management of large skin defects. A variety of cases will be presented and discussed to cover a range of size defects and anatomical locations. Tips and tricks that are useful to improve success will be highlighted throughout the cases.