Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Photobiomodulation therapy after dog knee surgery shows no clear
By Chavez, Oscar A et al.·Published in American journal of veterinary research·2024·Department of Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Photobiomodulation therapy in dogs undergoing TPLO after cranial cruciate ligament rupture shows promise but no statistically significant difference in a randomized trial.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 54 dogs with torn knee ligaments (cranial cruciate ligament rupture) underwent surgery to repair the damage and were given either a light therapy treatment (photobiomodulation therapy) or a placebo treatment. The study aimed to see if the light therapy would help reduce pain and improve recovery, but the results showed no significant differences between the two groups. Interestingly, the dogs that received the light therapy did not develop any surgical site infections, while some in the placebo group did. While the light therapy showed promise, it didn't lead to clear improvements in pain or recovery compared to the control group.
People also search for: dog knee surgery recovery · light therapy for dogs · cranial cruciate ligament rupture treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Effect of photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) in patients with CCLR after TPLO surgery by measuring C-reactive protein (CRP), percentage weight bearing, lameness using a short form of a composite measure pain scale, evaluated by the clinician and owners, and surgical site infection. SAMPLE: 54 client-owned dogs with CCLR undergoing unilateral TPLO surgery were enrolled in this study between April 5, 2021, through April 10, 2022. METHODS: The study population was randomly assigned to either a treatment group receiving PMBT (24 dogs) or a control group (30 dogs). PMBT was performed on the treatment group immediately after induction, and 6 hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 8 weeks postoperatively. The control group received sham PMBT (device turned off) at the same time. Evaluation of CRP, CMPS-SF, evidence of SSI, and %WB were evaluated for all dogs 24 hours preoperatively, and then 24 hours, 48 hours, and 8 weeks postoperatively. Owners completed CMPS-SF and subjective evaluations weekly for 8 weeks postoperatively. RESULTS: No statistically significant differences were found between treatment groups when evaluating CRP, %WB, and CMPS-SF by the clinician and weekly evaluation of the CMPS-SF by owners. Although no statistically significant differences were found in patients developing surgical site infections between treatment groups, SSI was only observed in patients in the control group (5/30, 16.6%). Most were minor/superficial infections (4/30 13.3%), and a single dog (1/30, 3.3%) had a major/deep surgical site infection. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although with promising but not statistically significant differences between groups, surgical site infections may be reduced after PBMT application.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38039628/