swollen paw post trauma

Question
Hi, my 14 yr old dog was hit by a slow moving car last week. He had a wound to his lower back leg. It extends from knee to just above the ankle and is mostly superficial. There were a couple of areas where the cuts were a little deeper, but blood flow ceased within a few hours with the aid of a pressure bandage. This wound is being dressed daily by the vet, but his paw is often swollen and the bandaging needing loosening. However, today when the dressing was removed and the vet massaged the paw, jets of clear fluid squirted out of the open wound higher up the leg.Around 10ml of clear, odourless fluid was removed in this way (very much like milking a cow!)The vet was unsure what this fluid was. I'm a pathologist and looked at the fluid under the microscope. It contained a few erythrocytes, lymphocytes and epithelial cells which I suspect were contaminants from the wound itself. The vet did not think it was joint fluid as it was not viscous. Do you have any suggestions?

Answer
Hi Helen!

It was most likely cellular edema fluid overload. -aka lymph fluid to draw out infection and or from too much pressure from a bandage.

what can help with edema is massage (upward motion) and hydrotherapy. Which you can do with a hose from the bathtub or shower and spray the wound (luke warm water)and leg for 10 min 2-3 times per day and this CAN help with the wound to heal faster since warm wet water can help with blood flow and cleans the wound! :)

good luck!