Pyotraumatic Dermatitis: GlycoBenz Shampoo
August 2014
A 7 month old male intact Bulldog presented for redness and itching of his neck for one week’s duration. He was already on Cephalexin and Rimadyl from his entropion surgery one week prior and was wearing an e-collar.
On physical examination, he had severe erythema and excoriations with moisture and crusts all along his ventral neck. He was wearing an e-collar to prevent scratching of his eyes post entropion surgery. The e-collar was rubbing against his neck and allowed him to scratch at most of his neck as well.
Pyotraumatic dermatitis or a “hot spot” was diagnosed after cytology was performed and revealed cocci and a skin scrape was negative. His neck was shaved and cleaned with GlycoBenz Shampoo in the hospital.
Pyotraumatic dermatitis or hot spots are moist, erythematous and sometimes bloody when they are fresh, and dry and scabby when they are resolving. They can cover large expanses of skin, can appear as solitary lesions or in multiple locations, but are generally well defined. They are caused by self-mutilation that may be a result of an allergy or an irritation, such as fleas. The basic hot spot treatment are to keep the patient from further irritating the area, promote drying of the moist skin and alleviate the pruritus. Hot spots below the ear or on the lateral face may be a deeper skin infection and often require more extensive treatment. Deeper skin infection treatment might include oral corticosteroids and/or oral antibiotics in addition to topical antiseptics and anti-inflammatories.
Cephalexin was dispensed to the Bulldog for an additional week as he had already been on it for one week’s duration. GlycoBenz Shampoo was dispensed and the owner was instructed to bathe his neck once daily for 10 days. Gentocin spray was also dispensed and the owner was instructed to spray the affected area twice daily, after bathing, for 10 days. He was also placed on oral Benadryl 50 mg twice daily to control the pruritis. A different e-collar was fitted to prevent him from scratching his eyes and most of his neck as well.
DermaZoo’s GlycoBenz was chosen in this case for benzoyl peroxide’s antibacterial and drying effects. GlycoBenz Shampoo contains 1% Glycolic Acid and 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide and aids in the topical treatment of seborrhea oleosa (oily/scaly skin), pyoderma, Demodex, Staphylococcal folliculitis, Malassezia and other conditions where a broad-spectrum shampoo with Benzoyl Peroxide and Glycolic Acid may be beneficial. See the DermaZoo website for more information.
Benzoyl peroxide shampoos are generally used for oily and scaly skin (seborrhea oleosa), superficial and deep pyodermas, crusty pyodermas (such as seborrheic dermatitis/pyoderma), furunculosis, and as adjunctive therapy for generalized demodicosis. Benzoyl peroxide has antimicrobial, comedolytic/follicular flushing, keratolytic and antiseborrheic actions.
Re-check 10 days later revealed mild erythema and no moisture or crusts. The owner was instructed to stop all medications. The e-collar was removed as the entropion repair had healed and sutures were removed.