Dorsal black skin necrosis in a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig

Thermal burns are an uncommon cause of injury in large animals.

A 10-month-old pet female black and white Vietnamese pot-bellied pig presented to the emergency service with fever and erythematous to purpuric skin lesions affecting the intermandibular space and hocks. One week prior to the emergency visit, she had appeared restless and in pain. Two weeks following the emergency visit, she again presented to the large animal clinic with sloughing of the pigmented skin on her head, face, dorsal and lateral trunk sparing the nonpigmented skin and pigmented ears. The affected skin constituted ~40% of her total skin. Histopathological findings for affected skin included full-thickness epidermal and partial to full-thickness dermal coagulative necrosis with follicular epithelial mineralization, while that from normal-appearing pigmented skin was within normal limits. A culture from a skin biopsy yielded meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (ST-72). Treatments included oral antibiotics, pain management, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and general anaesthesia to facilitate debridement. Healthy skin was often present when the necrotic skin was debrided, although in some areas the necrosis extended into the underlying fat. Complications that occurred during rehabilitation included intense pruritus that resulted in self-trauma and the formation of a nasal fistula, which was later surgically corrected.

Cases of dorsal thermal necrosis in pot-bellied pigs are uncommon in the literature. Based on the clinical presentation and lack of another identifying cause, the lesions were attributed to a sun-induced thermal burn.