INFECTION
Can Honey
Prevent Surgical Site Infections
AFTER COLIC SURGERY? B y
A d a m
M a r c u s
into the incisions of horses undergoing colic surgery can dramatically reduce the risk of postoperative infections, a new study has found. Researchers at Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, in Israel, found that horses that received standard therapy were about 4 times more likely to develop post-operative infections as those given the honey solution. “It’s quite clear that the group receiving medical grade honey suffered significantly less from incisional infections,” said Kajsa Gustafsson, DVM, who presented her group’s findings at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Association of Equine Practitioners. Colic surgery is one of the most commonly performed emergency procedures in horses. Roughly 3% of equids suffer colic in a given year, and up to 17% require surgery to correct the problem, Dr. Gustafsson said. Of those, between 11% and 42% will develop a post-operative infection, with the range reflecting how those infections are defined, she said. These infections carry their own morbidity and mortality,
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Issue 5/2020 | ModernEquineVet.com
Shuttersotck/nafterphoto
The application of medical grade honey (MGH)
