A RANDOMIZED BLIND PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF PHOTOBIOMODULATION THERAPY (PBMT) ON CANINE ELBOW OSTEOARTHRITIS
Andrea Looney 1 , Janice Huntingford 2 , Lauren Blaeser 3 , Sabine Mann 4 1 Ethos Veterinary Health, Massachusetts Veterinary Referral Hospital, 20 Cabot Road, Woburn, Massachusetts 01801, USA (Looney); 2 Essex Animal Hospital, 355 Talbot Street North, Essex, Ontario N8M 2W3 (Huntingford); 3 Ethos Veterinary Health,Bulger Veterinary Hospital, 247 Chickering Road, Andover, Massachusetts 01845, USA (Blaeser); 4 Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA (Mann).
Materials/Methods: Dogs (n = 20) were randomly assigned to receive either PBMT (group PBMT; n = 11) 10 to 20 J/cm 2 or a placebo treatment (sham light group S; n = 9) treatment 0 J/cm 2 , to both elbows for 6 weeks. Clinician Lameness score, Helsinki Chronic Pain Index scoring by blinded owner, and NSAID dose were recorded before and 7 to 10 days after last treatment by blinded study personnel. Results: Reduction in NSAID dose occurred in 9/11 dogs in the PBMT group, and in 0/9 of group S dogs (P = 0.0003). There was greater improvement in lameness score in the PBMT group compared to S group (P = 0.001). A greater reduction in pain score was detected in 9/11 parameters/daily life functions in group PBMT compared to group S (P < 0.05), with the exception of mood (P=0.2) and vocal score (P=0.35) which did not differ between groups before and after treatment. Discussion/Conclusion: Regularly scheduled PBMT at 10 to 20 J/cm 2 per joint for 6 weeks was successful in improving lameness and pain scores, and in lowering NSAID requirement in canine elbow osteoarthritis patients.
Acknowledgment: This study was funded by a grant from the Waltham Foundation. Equipment was provided by Companion Animal Health. Neither supporter played a role in study design, data collection or analysis, and manuscript submission or publication.
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