Page 69 - Veterinary Laser Therapy in Small Animal Practice

CHAPTER 7

Pointing light at soft tissue: clinical applications

The wound is the place where the light enters you. condition described. In general, both dose and power
— Rumi will have to vary according to the following factors.

Previous chapters have included a lot of references • The depth of the condition: treating a superficial
about what has been published in different fields; you wound is different than treating a deep fistula or
will also find some here, but the focus is more on prac- otitis in the external ear canal. The deeper the target,
tical clinical tips and experience-based advice, which I the higher the dose you need on the surface of the
hope will help you in daily practice. patient, since most of it will be lost in the tissues in
Some particular soft tissue conditions will be dis- between. But of course, trying to deliver a high dose
cussed in this chapter; since the list of applications is with a high power may excessively heat the surface –
so extensive and still growing, it is unlikely that all of a surface that can be sensitive enough already, with
them will be included, but you will get the foundations a wound or inflammation – so the power used in
and examples to help you infer the appropriate treat- wounds is lower than in musculoskeletal conditions.
ment regime to apply when faced with a potential new Some wounds will require higher doses than some
case. Muscles and ligaments are soft tissue but will be musculoskeletal cases, though, but always delivered
covered in Chapter 9, together with bone problems, in using a lower power, which means a longer delivery
the sections on musculoskeletal conditions (see 9.3 and time.
9.4). • The chronicity of the process: after acute damage
to the body, its repair mechanisms are activated;
7.1 General treatment considerations what we try to do with LT is push those mechanisms
and parameters in the right direction and in the shortest time pos-
sible, and a lower dose is usually enough. But very
After all that’s been said in Chapter 6, some of the fol- often in chronic wounds, the body’s resources seem
lowing information may seem redundant. Nevertheless, insufficient or altered, and we need to “wake up”
becoming completely familiar with laser therapy (LT) those mechanisms with a higher dose, and also a
and its parameters requires repetition, so many basic slightly higher power.
calculations are detailed again.

7.1.1 Dose 7.1.2 Power

Soft tissue treatments may include superficial areas, The power (W) used in soft tissue conditions usu-
such as skin wounds, but also deeper targets, such as ally ranges from 1 to 6 W. There are several related
intrathoracic structures. The dose range can be as broad parameters and treatment techniques this decision will
as 1 to 30 J/cm : you will find suggestions under each influence (and be influenced by).
2

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