5 wound management tips every veterinary team should know

This content is sponsored by NovaQuis Animal Health.

Wound management can be a source of stress for everyone involved, from clients to the veterinary team to the patients themselves. A consistent, stepwise approach helps simplify care and keep healing on track.

In this latest installment of Pet Connections, Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, and Danny Sack, DVM, walk through 5 essentials of wound care: flooding the wound with warm tap water for effective irrigation; maintaining moisture balance to support white blood cell activity and blood flow; performing surgical debridement when needed while letting natural separation lines form; reserving antibiotics for highly contaminated and full-thickness puncture wounds in favor of topical antimicrobial therapy; and choosing a treatment modality that encourages pet owner compliance.

Below is a full transcript, edited lightly for clarity.

Adam Christman, DVM, MBA: I'm Dr Adam Christman

Danny Sack, DVM: and I'm Dr Danny Sack

Christman: And we know the stress of wound management affects pet owners, the veterinary team, and ultimately pets.

Sack: And these are 5 things that we want everybody to know about wound management. Remember, the solution to pollution is dilution. Right?

Christman: Yes. Effective wound irrigation is so crucial because you want to flood that area with warm tap water to have the volume size that can really be effective to treat and manage those wounds.

Number 2: Consistent moisture balance is a priority.

Sack: A moist environment is going to improve our white blood cell activity and our blood flow.

Christman: Number 3: If needed, perform surgical debridement to remove some of that dead or infected tissue.

Sack: And allow those natural separation lines to form, so you're not accidentally removing healthy, salvageable tissue.

Number 4 is reserve those antibiotics for highly contaminated and full-thickness puncture wounds.

Christman: Yes, and we really like to use topical antimicrobial therapy if you can, because we want you to be really effective antimicrobial stewards.

Sack: And number 5: Use a modality that encourages pet owner compliance.

Christman: Yeah, we want to have a stress-free journey. Pet owners want to become more participants than spectators in the exam room. So we have really great treatment modalities that I think everyone's going to love, and it's going to be a home run. Check out ScafiGen from our friends at NovaQuis Animal Health. It's a safe and effective hydrogel…

Sack: And this is going to help with wound hydration and help with structural wound management.

Christman: Visit ScafiGen.com to learn more.