b'NEWSFRONT ERICA LARSON, News Editor Inquiries to: 859/276-6726@TH_EricaLarson E-Mail: News@TheHorse.comTo Bandage or NotBandaged wounds didnt necessarily heal to Bandage Wounds? better or faster, but they did heal differently than unbandaged ones.Scientists InvestigateI ts a question oft debated among horse owners: When managing wounds, espe-cially superficial ones, should you wrap them or let them air out?The answer usually comesACVS, director of the univer-ERICA LARSON/THE HORSEdown to personal prefer- sitys Comparative Veterinary ence, wound location, orTissue Healing Laboratory. other circumstances, such asSo the researchers created bandage material availabil- lesions on four sedated study ity, but a research team hashorses under local anesthe-started investigating whethersia: two on each horses bar-one option is best.rel and two wounds on eachbandaged wounds devel- Theoret said the physiologi-Marcio Costa, DVM, PhD,front cannon bone. Theyoped exuberant granulationcal differences between limb of the University of Montrealbandaged one leg woundtissue (soft, inflamed, moistand body wounds influence Department of Veterinaryon each horse, changingtissue thats also known aswhy the former take longer Biomedical Sciences, in Can- the dressing every two toproud flesh) and took aboutto heal. For instance, she ada, and colleagues recentlythree days for the first foura week longer to heal thansaid, limb wounds have a evaluated the wound-healingweeks. They left the otherunbandaged ones. However,longer inflammatory phase process in four horses, withlimb wounds and the barrelbandaging did seem to pre- (which delays healing), poor and without bandaging, aswounds unbandaged. Thevent environmental bacteriacontraction (the better the well as the types of bacteriaresearchers gave horsescontamination, the teamcontraction, the smaller the colonizing those woundsbutorphanol as needed tosaid; whether thats advanta- scar) and epithelialization (the skin microbiota). control pain.geous in the long run has yet(the process of new skin cells The most reliable way toBandaged leg woundsto be explored, they added. closing the wound) and tend study wound healing is todidnt necessarily heal betterAs expected, leg woundsto develop more proud flesh create standardized lesionsor faster, but they did healtook longer to heal thanthan body defects.on each horse, said Christinedifferently than unbandagedbody wounds (an average ofBacteria colonized all Theoret, PhD, DMV, Dipl.ones, the team found. All83 days vs. 62, respectively).wounds, but the types and IMM Mutation Common in Quarter Horses Blood Test to Check Foal Antibody LevelsSTUDY SHORTSNot long ago researchers discovered the genetic mutation behindIf foals cant get the antibodies they need for the first few months a sometimes-fatal muscle conditionimmune-mediated myositisof life from their dams colostrumthe first milk she producestheyre (IMM)in Quarter Horses. Now theyve learned the mutation isat risk for failure of passive transfer (FPT) of immunity. The earlier prevalent in certain discipline populations within the breed. The variantvets diagnose and treat FPT, the better. But, said Ibrahim Elsohaby, is "just as common, or more so, than at least two already-well-knownDVM, MVSc, PhD, of the University of Prince Edward Islands Atlantic genetic diseases in Quarter Horses: hereditary equine regional dermalVeterinary College, in Canada, and Zagazig University, in Egypt, the cur-asthenia and hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, said Carrie Finno,rent gold-standard test (radial immunodiffusion) isnt quick to produce DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of the University of California, Davis. She andresults. So he and colleagues tested digital and optical refractometry colleagues found the mutation in 7% of horses tested. Twenty-four per- and found them to be simple, rapid, and cost-effective, said Elsohaby. cent of elite reiners carried at least one copy (horses with two copiesThey were less accurate than radial immunodiffusion but took seconds of the mutation are most severely affected), and it also appeared into complete instead of hours. A second confirmatory test with higher working cow (17%), halter (16%), cutting (8%), and Western pleasurespecificity could be used to confirm FPT positive foals if refractometer horses (4%). They didnt find it in barrel racers or racehorses. tests are borderline, he said.8August 2019The Horse | TheHorse.com'