Physiotherapy for shoulder muscle and tendon injuries in dogs

Abstract

In veterinary literature, pathologies affecting the shoulder region in dogs are increasingly described, particularly in dogs that practice high-impact sporting activities. Physiotherapy may represent a complementary and supportive treatment to surgery and conservative therapy; however, the supporting scientific evidence is still limited. This study aims to evaluate a multimodal physiotherapy protocol in 25 dogs suffering from shoulder pathologies, examining time and number of sessions required to gain lameness recovery and trying to identify which variables (age, sex, weight, degree of lameness, presence of osteoarthritis, modalities) are able to positively or negatively influence recovery times. Patients received treatment consisting mainly of laser therapy and ultrasound combined with muscle strengthening exercises, hydrotherapy and manual techniques. Data were submitted to a descriptive and statistical analysis to highlight the recovery times and the most important variables. The results showed a mean clinical recovery time of 50 ± 35 days (median: 35 days) with a number of sessions equal to 10 ± 3 sessions (median: 10 sessions). Age, the presence of osteoarthritis, association between Laser and ultrasound therapy and the initial severity of the lameness significantly influenced recovery times. The study highlights the importance of a multimodal physiotherapeutic approach and underlines the need to carry out further large-scale research to standardize treatments and evaluate the impact on return to sporting activity.