Open wound after surgery

Question

My 8 year old mix underwent surgery two weeks ago to remove a mast cell tumor on her leg.  The wound was sutured and stapled, but because a large chunk of skin was removed, a lot of stress was put on the incision, the staples and many stitches popped out leaving an area of exposed muscle about 3 x 3 inches.  It is raw, bloody and gross looking.

The vet says there is not enough skin left to close the wound again and claims that the area will eventually granulate, fill in and close up but the wound looks so daunting I'm doubting it will ever happen.  I'm bringing her back every other day right now for bandage changes so the vet is seeing the wound pretty often.  She's on a couple antibiotics and pain meds.

Does anyone have any experience with this?  Can a dog with a large, deep open wound heal up?  I'm unconcerned about any scars, I just want the thing to close up.  Are their any treatments you know of that can help the wound heal faster?  Thanks.

tweetjeep · Answer

I am going thru the same thing my 115 lb eastern Doberman was attacked by a pit bull he bit him on the top of his thigh and it went almost all the way around back he had muscle hanging out it was almost to the bone took him to local vet she put 22 stitches picked him up and an hour later the stitches had ripped out pretty bad she tried to charge me another 250 I got mad vet took him in the back and was putting stitches in without putting him to sleep when I heard him screaming that was it we went to another vet paid another 250 he did a beautiful job but that was 2 days ago when the stitches disolved it slowly split back open it is almost deep enough to put ur pinky in up to first knuckle if the stitches hadn’t disolved it would still be doing great the length is about pinky length second vet wants another 250 to sew him back up.. I cannot afford this already went with out food to pay vet wound looks healthy so u think this will heal up? I believe it won’t open up again the first vets few stitches that didn’t rip out are still holding somewhat I’m gonna have to just keep it clean and hope for the best it’s either vet or mortgage I

720eli · Answer

my golden-doodle is 9 years old. My vet aspirated a small bump on his shoulder 11 months ago. It has become a large wound that will not heal.
He has had antibiotic twice and a topical antibiotic cream with no results. We were told to air it. It had a dark lump that fell off after 7 months. I keep it clean. It bleeds if it is rubbed too hard. He lays on that area and drains a small amount daily. What can I try. I have spent a lot trying to heal this with no results. He does get pimples that when squeeze expel pus. Vet says that has nothing to do with this. please anyone any advice is helpful.
He is my baby.

cjmh · Answer

I just noticed the 2009 date -- did it ever heal?

cjmh · Answer

Our 11 ½ year old Irish Setter has the same thing and its been 5 weeks with that ugly wound.  It looks like it’s healing but ever so slowly.  We’re letting it air dry now -- BUT she lays on it so it must not be hurting her at all.  Thank goodness.  

Glad to know we aren't the only ones dealing with this.

bella1062002 · Answer

i was just looking online to see if i could find any info on this topic, as it's happened to my poor pup, too.  she's an 8 1/2 year old boxer and just had a mast cell removed from her thigh...it's actually the third surgery in the area, so the amount of skin is minimal.  seems like a lot of time has passed since your pup had this issue - how did it turn out? any advice you could offer would be appreciated.  we're going back to the vet quite a bit, too...

lizalou1978 · Answer

i know how u feel,my dog has had the same thing as your dog and ive been really worried about it.Im hoping it all clears up for both of them

bildo · Answer

Thanks for the replies everyone.  I reposted the question on the Ask a Vet forum as Mr. Dock recommended.

peekawho · Answer

It will eventually granulate in and may not be pretty, but it will heal...provided that local tumor control is accomplished. Your dog should be on antibiotics as long as the wound is open and draining.

ginger899 · Answer

This sounds horrible, but I too am sure it will heal. Just watch out for any signs of infection in the wound. Strangely, there well may not be.

A short personal thing...once I had an accident with an hatchet. I cut off a large piece of the end of my finger (but bone intact) I kept the wound clean, but open to the air. It looked bad. But it healed just fine, and there wasn't even much pain. I left it to Nature and watched for any signs of infection. It is amazing how wounds like this do granulate, and close up.

Tomcat1765 · Answer

Hi there and I am sorry to hear that your pup had to undergo surgery and now this has happened as well.

Believe it or not, these wounds actually heal up pretty nicely.   In my 15 years working in veterinary hospitals, I have seen everything from "degloving" injuries where the dog's skin on his leg was torn off after being hit by a car to severe burns.  In many cases, the skin was able to recover and return to an almost normal state.

The important thing is to continue to follow your veterinarian's instructions and don't miss any of those bandage changes!!

If you would like another veterinarian's point of view, you might consider posting this question in the Ask A Vet Expert Surgery forum.

Good luck with your little girl!