First aid on horses inside forearm

Question

I have a gelding who came down on a wood post & tore the skin inside is forearm about 6- 8 inches above the chestnut about at the chest floor. I can treat it, patch it, wrap it, but I am having problems keeping the bandages up. Keeps sliding down his leg.Any ideas ? Do I have to make a sling of some sort up going through the bndaged area & up around his neck & withers or around the barrel ? Maybe I am just fearful of wrapping/taping too tightly. I can't get him to a vet, so I have to do this myself. Skin only. He's UTD on all shots. I am using gauze, first aid tape & have available vet wrap (which I would like to use , but which is creating my problems)

Answer 1

If it were me, I would put a non-stick telfa pad, take a half a sheet of sheet cotton (ripped the long way) folded over and wrapped around the leg to provide a little pressure and cushion - a standing wrap would work too.  Then I would put a section of pantyhose up the horses leg to cover the bandage and tape the top and bottom with the first aid tape or something called elastikon - it is just wider first aid tape.

If the cut is not bad - it is in a great location to go without a bandage.  In fact it may heal better if you just keep it clean, but uncovered to let it drain.

Answer 2

Does it need to be bandaged?  How deep is it?  You might be able to get away with putting some antibiotic ointment on it and just letting it be so that it can drain and heal from the inside out.

Otherwise...we had a horse who cut her chest open on a t-post one time so it was fairly deep but couldn't be stictched cuz she didn't get to the vet on time.  We used a bedsheet.  We kind of rolled it up across the diagonal (it's longer that way) and wrapped in a sling type of shape.  Press the sheet against the wound, make it cross the chest and go up over the opposite shoulder, up over the neck, then back down around the girth area and attach to the original bit in front.  You'll have to move it so that they place where the ends meet isn't on the wound (we always put it up on top).  I can't remember what we secured the sheet with but I think we just tied the ends together and then wrapped it with some sort of tape or vetwrap so that the knot didn't slip out.

I don't know if that made any sense...

Answer 3

If you have a flap of skin, and are trying to attach it without sutures, this method isn't going to work...or at best, it isn't going to work satisfactorily.

In order to secure anything to hold your bandaging, it sounds as if the horse's elbow would be involved.  Too tight, and you cut off circulation, and too loose , it won't hold.

I hesitate to give you a wrapping technique for this area, because if done improperly, it becomes a tourniquette.  

My advice is to leave it open and don't risk doing more damage by attempting a less than correct bandaging job.  Keep it clean as much as possible...do not use iodine...use saline or other mild cleanser....apply an antiinfective agent, and get a vet out there somehow.  Keep him confined as much as possible until a vet sees him and prescribes treatment.