Examples of Enhancing Treatment & Care with Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT): Garden Hose Scalding Syndrome

A young adult female canine was referred for treatment of a large wound in the middle of a hot Florida summer.  The organization caring for the patient stated that the original owner did not have a historical explanation for the wound.  A boarded veterinary dermatologist noted that the wound was characteristic of a thermal burn secondary to hot water from a garden hose sprayed on the dog.  It has been reported that water inside a garden hose stored outside in the summer sun is extremely hot, and will create a thermal burn if sprayed on a canine prior to running a volume of cool water through the hose. (Reference, Quist, Em, et al, Vet Dermatol, 2012, April: 23(2): 162-6)

Above, left to right: Pre HBOT (at admission). Majority of eschar sloughed. 5 months after commencement of HBOT.

The patient had a poor appetite, hypoalbuminemia, and a large area of eschar formation.  Treatment consisted of daily lukewarm tap water hydrotherapy, two weeks of antibiotics based on tissue biopsy culture and sensitivity, and BID one-hour HBOT sessions at 1.5 ATA. Donated tee shirts were used over the wound and replaced twice daily.  Appetite and serum albumin levels normalized within one week after beginning HBOT. The image (left) demonstrates the wound after the majority of the eschar sloughed.

Over the next five months BID HBOT and hydrotherapy were continued.  One month into hospitalization a bilateral Z Plasty technique was performed in an attempt to create apposition of the wound’s central area. Movement and tension issues contributed to the breakdown of the surgical wound closure attempt. BID HBOT was continued, and the wound closed by second intention after 5 months of therapy. 

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