The effect of short- and long-term treatment with manuka honey on second intention healing of contaminated and noncontaminated wounds on the distal aspect of the forelimbs in horses.

The research article looks into the impacts of manuka honey and manuka honey gel on wound healing in horses. The wounds investigated in the study are both non-contaminated and feces-contaminated. Results show both variations of honey quickened the healing process compared to untreated or traditionally treated wounds.

Objective and Methodology

• The study sought to compare the effects of issue recovery in horse wounds when treated with manuka honey and manuka honey gel. The types of wounds included were non-contaminated distal limb wounds and others that had been contaminated with feces.
• An experimental format was employed for the study, featuring a total of 10 Standardbred horses. Five full-thickness wounds measuring two-by-two centimeters each were created on both metacarpi. One forelimb’s wounds were smeared with horse feces for a day, while the other forelimb was kept clean.
• These wounds were subject to five different kinds of treatment, namely manuka honey, manuka honey gel or gel applied for 12 days, manuka honey gel applied continuously while healing, or just left untreated.

Findings

• The healing progress of the wounds was tracked by measuring wound area on the inaugural day and then once every week until day 42 when healing was again recorded.
• The wounds that were treated with manuka honey based gel throughout the healing phase healed quicker than all the other types of wounds.
• Wounds treated with either manuka honey or the honey gel for 12 days resulted in quicker healing than wounds that had a traditional gel applied or were left untreated.
• Up until day 35, wounds treated with the honey or honey gel for 12 days were smaller than those treated with conventional gel or left untreated.
• Despite initially showing greater retraction, the wounds that were contaminated with feces ended up healing faster than clean wounds.

Conclusion

• The results concluded that using manuka honey and manuka honey gel to treat wounds minimized wound retraction and accelerated the total healing process when compared to wounds treated with gel or left untreated.