Sterile medical grade maggots can be a useful tool in treating established infections of the equine foot. Larval therapy is a non-traumatic, minimally invasive way to debride high-scale infections without disturbing the normal architecture of the foot. Hoof disease and injuries are common and often serious problems for the horse. The horse's foot is constantly in contact with and interacting with its domesticated environment. Therefore, puncture wounds by foreign bodies and ascending infections fromdefects in the white line are not uncommon. For an infection to become established within the horse's foot, bacteria must breech the barrier of the protective hoof capsule (hoof wall, sole, and frog) and gain access to the inner sensitive tissues. When an infection has occurred, we can classify the infection as deep or superficial.1 Superficial abscesses only involve the tissue directly beneath the hoof capsule of the dermis/corium. Superficial infections are effectively treated by establishing drainage, soaking the foot in an Epsom salt solution, poulticing the foot until drainage has ceased, and protecting the foot until the hoof capsule defect has healed. Deeper infections are more serious and may involve the coffin bone, distal interphalangeal joint, navicular bursa, tendon sheath, collateral cartilages, and digital cushion.
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