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Pointing light at soft tissue: clinical applications 91

Case no. 7

N., canine, 5 years old, Golden Retriever, FS, 26 kg
• Complaint: traumatic cut in the paw.
• History: she came home bleeding from the paw 36 h previously. She had probably cut herself on something
in the park. Owners had performed initial lavage with copious amounts of water.
• Physical examination: cut wound on left forelimb foot pad, raising a flap that ran along the width of the
central pad (Fig. C7.1). No signs of infection. No foreign material inside.
• Diagnosis: accidental cut wound.
• Treatment:
• Wound management: lavaged with 0.05% chlorhexidine and sutured with 3/0 non-absorbable
monofilament. Protective bandage.
2
2
• Laser therapy: 4 J/cm over a 100 cm area, to cover not just the suture line but also the proximal palmar
surface and stimulate blood flow to the pad. Wound looked healthy after 48 h (Fig. C7.2) and the scar
was barely visible after 1 week (Fig. C7.3).
• Outcome: complete healing with good tensile strength and minimal scarring after 2 weeks (Fig. C7.4).

Figure C7.1 Wound before Figure C7.2 48 h after Figure C7.3 One week after Figure C7.4 Day 14.
treatment. treatment. treatment.

2
P (W) Tx time J/cm 2 Total J/Tx Spot (cm ) W/cm 2 Tx/week No. Tx
a
3 133 s (2.2 min) 4 400 6 0.5 3 6

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