Cutaneous phycomycosis in two horses.

The study investigates the effective treatment of cutaneous phycomycosis, a fungal skin infection, in horses with the use of extirpation (surgery to remove the lesion) and post-operative irrigation and wound care rather than complicated pre and postoperative treatments.

Research Context and Response

• The paper is essentially a response to a previous article penned by Dowling and colleagues, wherein the author expresses concern that the presented treatment approach for phycomycosis might dissuade veterinarians due to its perceived impracticality and costliness.
• The author clarifies that he has performed numerous extirpation procedures throughout his veterinary career, many of them around 30 cm in size, without necessarily using specialized or extensive pre- and postoperative treatment.
• He argues that his alternative method provides alleviation from this detrimental disease and places less practical and financial burden on the clinicians and the horse owners.

Extirpation Procedure and Recurrence

• The author details that one lesion needed reoperation due to overlooked secondary, subcutaneous foci, suggesting that lymphatic spread occurred from the primary lesion.
• The small, discrete foci are not visually easy to detect, but their removal prevented a recurrence of the lesion, emphasizing the need for careful palpation during surgery to ensure complete removal of the fungus.

Postoperative Treatment

• The author recommends, in contrast to previous reports, minimal postoperative treatment, which includes regular irrigation of the wound until granulation tissue fills the crater-like wound, and surface application of dressings when feasible.
• The healing process can take 2 to 3 months for larger wounds, but previous health conditions or poor states of the horses did not affect the outcome of treatment.
• The scarring after this treatment method was reported to be minimal, especially considering the size of some lesions.

Conclusion

• The author concludes by advocating for this simpler method of treatment, stating that he has performed it successfully under a range of less-than-ideal conditions.
• He hoped that sharing his experiences and method will inspire other veterinarians to tackle these unsightly lesions and provide a feasible treatment alternative for equine phycomycosis.