Use of honey as a wound-healing agent in domestic animals

Abstract

Wounds in domestic animals are very common, but the healing process to restore tissue continuity will depend on the extent of the injury. Veterinary medicine professionals need to offer conditions and treatment alternatives to speed up healing in cases where there is a delay in recovering the affected area. In this context, honey, as a nutraceutical product, has many advantages for use in wound healing, especially its osmolarity, which makes it act as a bactericide and a bacteriostatic agent, thus reducing the proliferation of bacteria. The aim of this literature review was to search for scientific publications that demonstrate the biological antibacterial, antioxidant and healing properties of honey, so that it can be an alternative for use in the wound healing process in domestic animals. The research carried out represents a bibliographical review, based on searches in electronic databases for information on the use of bee honey in the treatment of wounds in domestic animals. The following databases were used: Science Direct; Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) and PubMed. The following keywords were used to filter the search: honey; wounds and lesions, and wound healing. The following phrases in Portuguese were used as well: Chemical composition of honey; Bioactive compounds of honey; Antioxidant activity; Anti-inflammatory; Unconventional treatment of dogs and cats; Topical use of honey in domestic animal wounds; Healing of domestic animal wounds; Use of honey in treatments by veterinarians. The inclusion criterion for this study was the topical use of honey in the treatment of domestic animal wounds. Articles, undergraduate final projects, theses, dissertations and case reports that were objective, relevant and related to the topic under study were selected. The review concluded that the topical use of honey contributed to the recovery of animal tissue in less time, and is low cost and easily accessible, but there are few case reports and articles published on the subject in the field of veterinary medicine, and there is a need for more research in the area.