Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How therapeutic ultrasound warms and stretches dog Achilles tendons
By Acevedo, Betzaida et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2019·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effect of Therapeutic Ultrasound on Calcaneal Tendon Heating and Extensibility in Dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Ten adult hound-type dogs received therapeutic ultrasound treatment on one of their calcaneal tendons to see if it could help with flexibility and warmth. The ultrasound increased the tendon temperature significantly, especially with continuous treatment at a specific setting. After the treatment, the dogs showed improved tarsal flexion (the ability to bend their ankle), but this improvement was temporary and returned to normal within five minutes. The study suggests that while ultrasound can help warm the tendon and improve flexibility briefly, combining it with stretching exercises right after treatment may provide better results.
People also search for: dog ankle flexibility treatment · therapeutic ultrasound for dogs · hound dog tendon injury recovery
Abstract
To (1) characterize the warming pattern of canine calcaneal tendons during and after four different therapeutic ultrasound (US) treatment protocols, and (2) to quantify changes in tarsal flexion immediately after therapeutic US treatment, and following return to baseline temperature.A prospective, crossover, experimental study.Ten adult hound-type breed dogs.Therapeutic ultrasound (3.3 MHz) was applied to one calcaneal tendon of anesthetized dogs using four different settings applied in random fashion (1.5 and 1.0 W/cmcontinuous, and 1.5 and 1.0 W/cmpulsed US) while the temperature of the tendon was recorded by a thermistor needle. The contralateral tendon was used to compare extensibility of the treated soft tissues by measuring changes in tarsal joint flexion before, immediately after, and 5-min after continuous US treatment at 1.5 W/cmfor 10 min.The greatest increase in tendon temperature occurred with continuous US at 1.5 W/cm. Pulsed US resulted in minimal tendon heating. Most of the increase in tissue temperature occurred within the first 3 min of US application. Tarsal flexion increased significantly following US treatment; however, it returned to near baseline within 5 min after US was discontinued.Continuous US of the calcaneal tendon at 1.5 W/cmresulted in the greatest increase in tissue temperature while maintaining a safe range of tissue temperature increase. Tendon heating and heat dissipation were slightly different from what has been reported for muscle. Our results suggest that 3.3 MHz US applied to tendon for >3 min may not provide additional tissue temperature increase. Therapeutic US resulted in increased tarsal flexion, however the change was only transitory. Therefore, stretching exercises should be performed during and immediately after US.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31249835/