Clinical Evaluation of Medical Ozone Use in Domestic Feline Cutaneous Wounds—A Short Case Series

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Cutaneous wounds in cats are a common problem in veterinary practice as well as their therapy. Wound healing is a physiological process mediated by numerous growth factors that are successively released in order to restore the integrity of the skin. A longer time needed for wound healing in cats entails an increased risk of complications as well as higher total therapy costs. Ozone, used as a therapeutic complementary with regenerative properties, has begun to have wider applicability in veterinary medicine. Thus, the aim of this study was to clinically assess this as a therapeutic element in supporting cutaneous wound second-intention healing in cats. According to our knowledge, this is the first preliminary controlled study of its kind in cats. ABSTRACT: Support and management of second-intention wound healing involves frequent dressing changes having different properties. Dressings can range from simple ones, such as nonadherent dressings, to more complex options, such as foam, hydrocolloid, alginate or negative pressure dressings. Seven cats were enrolled in the study with a total of nine wounds of various sizes with different etiology sizes and localizations. Three methods of local ozone administration were used to cover more of the ozone properties in the treatment of wounds: bagging, perilesional subcutaneous infiltrations and lavages with ozonated saline. Evaluation of the healing process was performed by clinical observation and wound area measurements every seven days until the complete recovery of the patients. The results of this study should encourage clinicians to consider medical ozone as a new therapeutic approach with regenerative properties in the second-intention healing of cats presenting cutaneous wounds.