The effectiveness of
salicylic acid paste (
PASTE) was tested for topical treatment of 25 acute and 25 chronic
digital dermatitis (DD) lesions. Control groups with the same number of acute and chronic DD lesions were treated with topical
oxytetracycline spray (SPRAY) and by washing only with water (HYDRO) respectively. The
therapeutic effects were evaluated using a
pain score, the healing rate, the lesion size and other parameters. Pre-treatment and control examinations were carried out on day 0, 4, 14 and 21. In the
PASTE group, 76.0% of acute DD lesions were
pain free and 64.0% of acute DD lesions were healed on day 21 showing a normal skin surface (MO). Only 28.0% of acute DD lesions treated with SPRAY and 16.0% treated with HYDRO had healed on day 21. A significantly higher healing rate was revealed in acute lesions for the
PASTE compared to the HYDRO group (p < 0.05) for all three re-checks, and for the
PASTE group compared with the SPRAY group (p < 0.05) for day 4 and day 14. Healing rates of chronic DD lesions were higher in the
PASTE group with 44.0% on day 14 and 36.0% on day 21, compared with 16.0% in the SPRAY and 32.0% in the HYDRO group on day 14, and 20.0% (SPRAY) and 28.0% (HYDRO) on day 21 respectively. The recurrence rate of lesions after they had healed during the study period was 14.5% in total.
Digital dermatitis lesions treated with
salicylic acid paste and a wrap showed significantly higher healing rates within the study period, odds ratios for healing of acute lesions with
PASTE were 4.5 to 6.7 times higher than with SPRAY, and 9.3 to 36.4 higher compared with HYDRO.