He-Ne laser therapy by fibroendoscopy in the mucosa of the equine upper airway.

This research investigates the healing effects of low-level laser therapy (using a helium-neon or He-Ne laser) on superficial wounds in the throat lining of horses. The results indicate that using an He-Ne laser accelerates the wound healing process significantly, compared to untreated wounds.

Methods

• The study was conducted on 12 Spanish horses. The researchers created duplicate sores within the throat lining of each horse by injecting sulfuric acid under the skin.
• An He-Ne laser was used in combination with a fibroendoscope (a device for inspecting body cavities) to treat one of the sores on each horse. The other sore was left untreated to serve as a control for comparison.
• After applying the seventh round of laser treatment, biopsy samples were collected from two horses for histological analysis (study of the microscopic structure of tissues).

Results

• The sores that received laser treatment healed in approximately 10.5 days, while the untreated or control sores took an average of 18 days to heal.
• The statistical analysis of these results showed that these differences were highly significant.
• The histological investigation revealed that untreated wounds showed signs of cell death due to coagulated blood, swelling (edema), and formations of clots (microthrombi).
• In contrast, tissue samples from the laser-treated sores showed no signs of inflammation or edema. Instead, they revealed a high number of active fibroblasts (cells responsible for healing and producing connective tissue), new connective tissue, and intense regeneration of the epithelial (skin) cells.

Conclusions

• The macroscopic (visible to the eye) and microscopic (visible under a microscope) results provide evidence suggesting that the He-Ne laser treatment facilitated a faster healing process for the sores.
• This suggests that low-level laser therapy could be beneficial in treating ulcerative lesions in the throat lining of horses.