Management of severe head injury with brain exposure in three loggerhead sea turtles Caretta caretta

Abstract

The loggerhead Caretta caretta is the most common sea turtle in the Mediterranean. Currently, sea turtles are considered endangered, mainly due to the impact of human activities. Among traumatic lesions, those involving the skull, if complicated by brain exposure, are often life-threatening. In these cases, death could be the outcome of direct trauma of the cerebral tissue or of secondary meningoencephalitis. This uncontrolled study aims to evaluate the use of a plantderived dressing (1 Primary Wound Dressing ® ) in 3 sea turtles with severe lesions of the skull exposing the brain. Following surgical curettage, the treatment protocol involved exclusive use of the plant-derived dressing applied on the wound surface as the primary dressing, daily for the first month and then every other day until the end of treatment. The wound and peri-wound skin were covered with a simple secondary dressing without any active compound (non-woven gauze with petroleum jelly). Data presented herein show an excellent healing process in all 3 cases and no side effects due to contact of the medication with the cerebral tissue.

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria in Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Rearing Seawater

“…However, gentamicin can induce nephrotoxicity, which may lead to acute renal failure [ 36 ]. Recently, plant-derived commercial dressing has been reported for use in loggerhead turtles with entanglement or severe head injury [ 37 , 38 ]. From the results in this study, we suggested that aminoglycosides together with plant-derived commercial dressing may be considered as a protocol to be used for treatment of bacterial infection in juvenile sea turtles at STCCT.…”

Anatomic Interactive Atlas of the Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta) Head

“…Several diseases involving the head of sea turtles have been reported. Bone fractures complicated by brain exposure, meningeal hemorrhages, and heterophilic meningoencephalitis due to traumatic lesions mainly caused by boat strikes have been reported [ 28 , 31 , 33 , 39 ]; unassisted mortality rate has been recently used as a quality indicator parameter in the rehabilitation of loggerhead turtles, and the highest value was found in the trauma (boat strikes) category, suggesting a poor prognosis for these turtles [ 6 ]. Meningitis and encephalitis caused by trematode eggs and adult trematodes have also been described [ 40 , 41 ].…”

“…The head of the sea turtle is susceptible to congenital, developmental, traumatic, and infectious disorders [ 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ]. An accurate interpretation and thorough understanding of the anatomy of this region could be useful for veterinary practice on sea turtles.…”

Surgical repair of a chronic traumatic injury of the right carpal joint in a juvenile hawksbill sea turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata)

“…Among the different threats, traumatic injuries to sea turtles are common and can occur from many anthropogenic causes such as watercraft, fishing activity or water controlling equipment, but also predation such as bites from shark or conspecific 1 . The most common sea turtle injuries reported in the literature are head trauma, carapace fractures and flipper lacerations 2 . When tissue damage to a flipper is severe, partial or complete amputation is generally considered 3 .…”

“…1 The most common sea turtle injuries reported in the literature are head trauma, carapace fractures and flipper lacerations. 2 When tissue damage to a flipper is severe, partial or complete amputation is generally considered. 3 After single amputation, sea turtles retain remarkable swimming and maneuvering ability, thus release can be expected.…”