Author(s): "Dr. Erin Goelitz, Spring Hill Veterinary Clinic, Illinois, USA"
Signalment: Canine, 11yrs., M/I, Border Collie, “King Russell”.
History: Patient was attacked by another dog during his daily walk. Patient was initially anesthetized for wound debridement/ repair with Penrose drain placement. Within 10 days of surgical repair, a large portion of the tissues became necrotic and was debrided.
Diagnosis and Exam Findings: Single dog bite wound, severe deep puncture on the right lateral shoulder with significant bruising.
Laser Treatment: 5J/cm2 delivered to target tissues, delivering a total of 492 joules to the entire affected area & nearby healthy tissue margins (100cm2).
Frequency of Treatments: Every 2 to 4 days until resolution.
Other Treatments Included: The wound was left open to heal, treated with topical wound dressing, oral antibiotics, carprofen, and tramadol.
Comments: Being an older patient, it would have taken longer for him to heal. The laser treatments greatly decreased the healing time and in doing so increased his quality of life. It was very hard for the owner to see such a large open wound on their pet and if not for the laser treatments, they would have had to deal with it a lot longer. The patient himself seemed to know that the treatments were helping, he was always happy to see us and would jump up onto the table to await his treatment.