Page 22 - 12 April 2013

Shock wave therapy
treating Limb Injuries and Lameness
by Heather Smith Thomas
“Many people think it’s an electric shock, but it’s actually an energy wave.”
Heather Smith Thomas resides on a ranch near Salmon, Idaho. As a freelance writer for many years, her equine health and manage- ment articles are a regular feature in Speedhorse Magazine.
Shock wave therapy is used to treat back pain
Shock wave therapy is now being utilized by many equine veterinarians for treating limb injuries and lameness in horses. This modality has been used in the United States for 15 years, and has been utilized in human medicine since 1980 to break up kidney and bladder stones without surgery. The technique was originally called lithotripsy, which means to hammer or break up stones.
It was first used on animals in 1986 in Europe to treat tendon, ligament and bone problems. The first machine for horses was brought to the U.S. in 1998 by Dr. David McCarroll at Interstate Equine Services in Goldsby, Oklahoma. The second one was installed at Purdue University under the direction of Dr. Scott McClure. A third one was purchased by Dr. Van Snow, a veterinarian in California.
McClure is now at Iowa State University where
he is Associate Professor of Equine Surgery. He uses shock wave therapy for treating horses with various types of lameness issues. “Shock wave today is well accepted in equine practice. There are a number of things it is consistently used for, such as suspensory desmitis and tendonitis. It is also used for some arthri- tis issues in the neck, and also for back pain,” he says.
“Shock wave research has been finding the best ways to use it in conjunction with other biologic therapies. We are looking at where it fits best, regard- ing timing, using it along with other treatment proto- cols like stem cells or platelet rich plasma (PRP), etc. We’re finding the best ways to blend these therapies together,” says McClure. This is where most of the current questions have been focused; looking at ways to utilize these various modalities together for the best benefit of the horse.
“Using several therapies as treatment is now routinely done because we see some additive benefits. There have not been any controlled studies comparing shock wave by itself to shock wave with PRP or with PRP by itself, but the clinical impression of veterinar- ians is that there’s some additive benefit,” he says.
“This makes sense because we can see additional vascularization when using shock wave. If we can get growth factors from something like PRP, we not only stimulate the injured area with the growth factors but also with neovascularization from the shock wave and get added affects,” he explains.
In the early years of shock wave use in horses, it was tried primarily on bony injuries and joints,
20 SPEEDHORSE, April 12, 2013
equine health
Dr. Bruce connally