Equine Wound Management, Third Edition

Book Preface

Wounds are among the most common medical conditions seen by veterinarians in their equine patients and one of the topics least addressed during the veterinary curriculum or at continuing education meetings. Because the horse’s response to wounding differs from that of man, laboratory animals or even other veterinary
patients, wound‐management textbooks used in the human healthcare field or in small animal practice cannot be relied on to provide appropriate/specific therapeutic guidelines. Moreover, the general‐purpose textbook covering equine medicine and surgery cannot possibly address the topic with the required depth because of the abundance of information on wound physiology and management now available. Consequently, the Equine Wound Management textbook is an essential reference for equine veterinarians because it provides readers with stateof‐ the‐art theoretical and practical information, enhanced by an abundance of helpful tables, line drawings, and color figures.

With Dr. Ted Stashak firmly embracing a well‐earned retirement, I (Dr. Theoret) was faced with the choice of a new co‐editor willing to fill big shoes. Dr. Jim Schumacher courageously accepted the challenge and, due to his vast clinical experience and his familiarity with editorship, he has been an inestimable asset to the smooth execution of the task at hand. Together, we have striven to create a well‐balanced book that addresses the needs of students, practitioners, postgraduate veterinarians in training programs (research‐ or clinicallyoriented), and specialists (surgeons). Moreover, with the aim to make the book more reader‐friendly, practical information has been highlighted in the text in easy‐to‐spot, quick‐to‐read “tips”, and a companion interactive website posts text, questions/ answers, figures, case series, “how to” videos, etc. Since the second edition of this textbook was published in 2008, hundreds of new, relevant studies have been performed, and summaries of these findings and practical applications thereof have been included in the third edition. The wound‐care market for human patients has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years; consequently, countless new topical medications and interactive dressings have appeared on the market. In many cases, the use of these products in horses has not yet been thoroughly investigated. Despite the aforementioned differences in healing of wounds of horses, veterinarians may be tempted to extrapolate data from human or lab animal trials to the horse. Consequently, Chapters 5 and 6 have been thoroughly updated, and the author presents evidence for the effects of selected products specifically on healing tissues of the horse. Another important change since the previous edition is the increased awareness of antibiotic resistance. Accordingly, a concerted effort has been made by all contributing authors to promote responsible antimicrobial stewardship by better describing the infection continuum and reviewing the premise of antibiotic resistance and biofilms. These topics are particularly well addressed in chapters 3, 4, and 19. Finally, it seemed appropriate to add a section on dog‐bite wounds and gunshot wounds to Chapter 20 and to add an entire chapter on innovative adjunctive therapies, discussing the most recent developments.

In closing we wish to express our gratitude to the authors for their willingness in bringing to this textbook all their valuable experience. We are pleased that we were able to include many world‐renowned specialists to produce the highest‐quality material. We are indebted to these people who generously contributed their clinical insight and current research data.