Fluorescence light therapy helps treat dog interdigital skin

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Interdigital pyoderma is a common multifactorial, inflammatory disease of the canine interdigital skin. Lesions commonly become infected secondarily. In addition to management of the underlying cause, management of the chronic inflammatory changes in the interdigital skin created by secondary infection and by the release of keratin into deep tissues is required. Fluorescence biomodulation appears to modulate the inflammatory process in dermatological disorders and has shown promise in preliminary studies evaluating its use in superficial and deep pyoderma in dogs. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of a fluorescence biomodulation (FB) system used in conjunction with systemic antibiotic on clinical manifestations of canine interdigital pyoderma (CIP), compared to dogs treated with antibiotic alone. ANIMALS: Thirty-six dogs diagnosed with CIP. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Dogs were randomly allocated to treatment groups of either antibiotic alone (Group A) or antibiotic plus twice-weekly FB application (Group B). Dogs were scored over a 12 week period on the basis of two measured parameters: a global lesion score composed of four different lesions types and neutrophil engulfing bacterial scores. RESULTS: A statistically significant decrease was seen by Week 3 in both measured parameters for Group B compared to Group A. The mean time-to-resolution of lesions was 4.3 weeks in Group B and 10.4 weeks in Group A. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The FB system shows promise as an adjunct therapy to systemic antibiotic use in the management of CIP.