AWOL - Dr Mohammed's FACT FILES
ABSCESSES
 WHAT IS AN ABSCESS?
An abscess is a localised pathological cavity filled with pus that has been caused by a break of the surface of the skin or mucous membrane which has allowed the entrance of micro organisms most typically Staphylococcus , Streptococcus or E.Coli.
WHAT CAUSES AN ABCESS?
The most common cause of an abscess that we see in our day to day work is a bite from another animal which breaks the skin and allows an invasion of micro organisms, most typically one donkey biting another, but we also see abscesses which appear, like boils, as a result of an invasion of pyogenic micro organism into the blood circulation - pyemia.
TYPES OF ABSCESS
There are 2 types of abscess according to the stage of development. An abscess is either Acute (Hot)
or Chronic (Cold) and according to the location of the abscess on the animal it can be either superficial or deep inside.
ACUTE ABSCESS
These form 3 to 5 days after the infection has entered the body and is characterized by localised heat, redness, swelling and all signs of acute inflammation whilst the body makes a wall known as a pyogenic membrane which contains pus. This pus varies according to the tissue involved and the type of organism it contains.
CHRONIC ABCESS
The consequence of the lack of treatment to an acute abscess (e.g. something as simple as the pus not being squeezed out)
is that in time it will change from acute to chronic. Chronic has no sign of inflammation or heat
but has a thick connective tissue capsule filled with pus that is mostly thick but some will be quite solid.
This gives a chronic abscess a hard consistency
which is usually of a large size and as it has been left untreated it always takes a long time to treat successfully.
During our work we have successfully treated more than one chronic abscess that was so large and solid that it had actually stopped the affected donkey from being able to move its jaw sufficiently enough to enable it to eat.
SUPERFICIAL ABSCESS
These are located just under the surface of the skin and are initially characterized by symptoms of acute inflammation and appears as a circumscribed, firm and painful swelling where on checking the centre of swelling feels gradually softer.
DEEP ABSCESS
Initially these are much more difficult to diagnose than superficial abscesses as they usually develop under thick layers of tissue.
The early indication of a deep abscess is a rise in the animal's temperature, pulse and respiratory rate presenting symptoms similar to a fever though at a latter stage
the local symptoms of a deep abscess become much more self evident due to swelling occurring from an excessive accumulation of watery fluid in cells, tissues, or cavities
which may well be in the region of an important internal organ causing serious interference with the organ's function and therefore leading to the possible death of the animal.
TREATMENT
Though it is best to treat any abscess whilst it is still in the acute stage it is also important, especially working in the dust and dirt of El marise, not to open the abscess before maturation (when most of the pus is collected into the one cavity) or secondary abscesses may form within the inflamed tissue. A poultice can be applied to to hasten the maturation of an abscess.
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Once mature we open the abscess to evacuate the content under local anaesthesia.
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If the abscess is located in the high vascular tissue we have to use a blunt instrument such as artery forceps and divide the abscess layer by layer to avoid cutting any blood vessels or damaging nerves. Typically though we put the point of a scalpel into the middle of the bulging abscess which must penetrate the granulation barrier in order to achieve good drainage.
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The abscess has to be squeezed to remove as much puss as possible before the cavity can be irrigated with hydrogen peroxide and then dried with sterile drapes.
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The cavity is filled with a drain that contains antibiotic ointment which we then change at 3 day intervals until pus is no longer being produced.
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We also administer a course of broad spectrum antibiotics to aid healing and avoid any secondary infection.
PUS - THE KEY TO TREATMENT
The medicine of choice depends on the character of the pus that we drain from the animal as it differs according to the micro organism involved. For example:
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Staphylococcus pus in all animals is thick, whitish yellow or yellow, of sour cream like consistency and has a very specific sour odour.
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Streptococcus pus is usually malodorous, of liquid consistency, greyish brown and has a mixture of a small amount of necrotic (dead) tissue with streaks of blood.
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E.Coli pus is liquid, malodorous and brown in colour.
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Pseudomonas Aeruginoza pus is thick and pale grey-green in colour.
AWOL ABSCESS EDUCATION
Abscesses have a very detrimental affect on the health of the animal concerned. We see most abscesses on donkeys and as these animals are relied on to bring in the income that keeps the family fed the donkey owners are eager to learn. Yet again it is ignorance of what causes an abscess, what treatment is needed and when it is needed that is the problem not cruelty. AWOL addresses this through treatment, instruction, education and follow up visits.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Obviously AWOL cannot charge for any treatment so it is your donation that allows AWOL to continue to help these poor people and their animals so please donate whatever you can. To find out the many ways that you can donate to AWOL please Click Here.
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