Page 186 - Veterinary Laser Therapy in Small Animal Practice

172 Veterinary Laser Therapy in Small Animal Practice

the prescriptions and add LT for better multimodal LT is compatible with your acupuncture treatments.
pain management. Unlike acupuncture, LT is tolerated by all patients; if
you want to combine both, LT can help your patient
11.2.2 Surgery feel more relaxed before you do any needling; otherwise
you can choose to do the laser before or after the acu-
A few reconstructive surgeries will be avoided, and puncture treatment.
hopefully some ear canal ablations prevented … but Except in some severe cases, acupuncture treatments
you still need to fixate your fractures, remove that don’t need as many initial visits as LT: while you may
infected tooth that is causing a sinus, decompress that initially want to do 3–5 laser treatments in a week, you
spine that has lost pain perception today, and so on. will probably needle the patient only 1–2 times; explain
The change is that the fracture and socket will heal to the owner that some visits will be shorter than others
faster and with less pain, and the spinal patient is likely and try to schedule both things for the same day.
to have an improved recovery. Some cases will not be
that black-and-white, such as some partial cranial cru- Laser acupuncture
ciate ligament tears. Acupuncture points can be stimulated in different
Laser can be used before, during, and after surgeries. ways. The traditional “dry needle” (Fig. 11.4) and moxi-
Treating beforehand improves the metabolic state of bustion (Fig. 11.5) techniques were complemented in
the tissue and this can manifest even as a significant dif- the 20th century by electric stimulation of the points,
ference in force plate peak vertical force 8 weeks after a which facilitated a stronger stimulus and greater stand-
TPLO. [284] During certain surgical procedures, such as ardization in terms of time, intensity, and frequency
after a non-oncological intestinal anastomosis or a cys- of pulsing (Fig. 11.6). As the potential of laser therapy
totomy, laser can help you improve local oxygenation, also spread in the last quarter of the 20th century, its
reduce inflammation, and kick-start healing – and you use to stimulate such areas with different parameters
know how important that is after an anastomosis. Most
of your treatments will be postoperative, though, and
you will be getting faster and better healing in general
terms. You can review Chapters 7 and 9 for more details
and treatment protocols.

11.2.3 Acupuncture

Acupuncture is one of the branches of Traditional
Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). Some practi-
tioners have a more traditional Chinese approach to
acupuncture based on TCVM theory, diagnosis, and
principles of treatment; others approach acupuncture
from a more westernized perspective, since the effects
can be explained (although not all, for the moment)
in contemporary medical terms. Several endocrine,
nervous, and immune mechanisms are involved, and a
PubMed search will give you an idea of how extensive
the research is concerning this topic. Having the best
scientific basis whenever possible is actually compat-
ible with a good knowledge of the traditional medical
system that began thousands of years ago and led to the
existence of the therapy we now try to explain in sci-
entific terms. It is a fascinating medical approach that
can broaden and change the way you work, and some
excellent courses are available for veterinarians. Figure 11.4 Dry needle acupuncture in a cat.

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