ANTIBACTERIAL EFECT OF TOPIC OZONE IN HORSES WITH DISTAL LIMB INFECTED WOUNDS

Abstract

The living way of horses and the environmental factors get these animals in the situation of injuring themselves, especially at the level of their limbs. This usually produces opened traumatic wounds. Some species particularities like lack of elasticity of the skin and low protection at this level, temperamental features, breeding conditions and the category of work they are into, are contributing to a high incidence of wounds. More than this because of contamination, infection and then chronic phase of these wounds, ischemic processes and hypoxia install and they increase the amount of time needed for epithelization.

The biological material of this study consisted in 5 horses of different breed, age, weight and sex. Our aim was to follow the time needed for complete healing and evolution of microbiological activity at the surface of the wounds by taking samples before and after treatment for bacteriological tests. The subjects were treated topically by the ozone bag method at a 50μg/ml dose for 30 minutes every treatment session. No other associated therapies were performed. We obtained  a reduction of the wound surface up to 3,3 cm²/ day and a reduction of the bacterial population up to 93,81 %. This result confirms us that topic ozone treatment by ozone bag technique has efficient bactericidal properties in the treatment of atonic infected lower limb wounds in horses.