A Treatise on Regional Iodine Therapy for the Veterinary Clinician

by Mart R. Steffen

I have already disposed of the manner in which the applications of tincture of iodine are made, previous to incision of the integument, in surgical operations. Aside from this quite common use of this preparation, I have found tincture of iodine of great worth as an application to calk wounds in the coronary region of the equine foot. When the injured horn has been pared away under the wound in the coronary band, and the loose particles of flesh and hair cleaned away, the wound is freely painted with pure tincture of iodine. This painting is to be repeated several times daily, until recovery takes place. Severe infections rarely occur if the applications are begun within a few hours after the accident occurs.

Whenever tincture of iodine is used, for the correction of an abnormality in the horse and cow, it must be applied very liberally if the effect is desired with any degree of promptness. This, together with the fact that the tincture is quite irritating to the skin of animals—a fact that precludes an extensive course of treatment with this preparation—makes iodine, in this form, an agent that is chiefly of use in acute conditions, and it is, therefore, the agent of choice to act as an adjunctive treatment to the internal handling of such conditions as septicemia, strangles, distemper, parotitis, lymphangitis of a localized character, and acute inflammations in tendons, ligaments, and synovial bursae. In any of these conditions, it is best applied with a small, rather stiff brush, painting it liberally, over the parts involved, several times daily. If the parts become very much irritated from these applications, the treatment must be stopped and the area treated with a coating of vaseline or lard.

The oily preparations of iodine are especially useful in various skin diseases, ring-worm, and the parasitic form of scratches in horses. The secret, in the successful handling of these conditions with oily preparations of iodine, lies in the abstinence from water; the parts should be given one thorough washing, when treatment is first begun, after which no more water should be applied. If the parts need cleansing, while the course of treatment is under way, it should be done in a dry manner, with clean cloths or cotton wads.

Oily preparations of iodine may also be used to anoint the arms of the surgeon during the handling of infected cases of obstetrics. Pouring a quantity of the preparation into the palm of the hand, and then rubbing it gently over the skin of both hands and arms, proves a reliable barrier to infection from a decomposed fetus or after-birth.

In applying the oily preparations of iodine, to lesions on the integument, it is always necessary to massage them into the tissues quite vigorously; when this is done a single application each day suffices.

Other indications for the oily preparations, as well as for aqueous preparations, of iodine, have been pointed out in the chapter devoted to the selection of iodine preparations for practical use.

Ointments of iodine—which, for me, mean Iodex—have, by far, the most extensive field of application, and the uses to which an iodine ointment may be put have already been quite clearly indicated. I will, however, remark some of the points to be considered in using Iodex in such cases as spavin lameness and similar affections of the articulations.

In choosing, for treatment with Iodex, a case of spavin lameness, the practitioner should select only those cases in which the horse warms out of the lameness; these cases can positively be cured by Iodex applications. Do not attempt to cure the lameness caused by spavin in which the horse will not warm out of the lameness; these cases are not only impossible of cure by this means but by other means, excepting neurectomy, as well.

When the case has been selected, the Iodex should be applied, not only in the immediate vicinity of the exostosis, but entirely around the hock involved. An application should be made every morning and every evening, in the following manner: Apply a thin coating of Iodex and massage it into the hock for at least five minutes; then apply another very thin coating, allowing this to remain on the surface. The applications must extend over a period of from five to seven weeks—about such a length of time as is required to effect a cure with actual cautery—and, during the first few weeks of this period, the animal should be at rest. After the second week, it may indulge in light exercise in a lot or paddock, but may not be worked.

Cases of spavin, treated in this manner—cases selected for treatment as above outlined—are not only cured of lameness, but, in many cases, the enlargement also disappears.