New treatment technologies demand rigorous evaluation.

This research paper discusses the effects of laser therapy on wound healing in horses, suggesting that while new technologies often promise improved healing, rigorous evaluation is necessary to determine their genuine benefits over traditional approaches.

Overview of Treatment Technologies in Equine Medicine

• The application of new technologies in the treatment and healing of athletic injuries in horses has been seen for a long time in equine medicine and surgery.
• Some of these methods undergo rigorous testing and approval before veterinarians can use them. However, several other methods do not need governmental approval and are directly marketed to horse trainers and owners.
• Often, the efficacy of such new treatment technologies is communicated to prospective buyers in the form of testimonials. But for scientific validity, these treatments require objective and conclusive examinations.
• The tendency for horse owners to lean towards alternative treatments when they promise faster and better healing methods does exist, although it’s the veterinarian’s responsibility to provide accurate information about the efficacy, safety, and correct applications of new treatment technologies.

Low-Level Laser Therapy

• Low-level laser (LLL) therapy is one such technology that has been used for decades to treat a variety of conditions in horses without regulation.
• LLL therapy has been recognized to impact cellular processes such as phagocytosis, protein synthesis, cell growth, and fibroblast proliferation. These applications form the basis as to why lasers are used to treat various conditions.
• The most useful information for a practitioner comes from evaluating the in vivo effects of a treatment. Essentially, whether the injury heals faster, stronger, or better than with more traditional methods.

Evaluation of Laser Therapy

• Evaluating the effects of laser therapy and other new treatment methods can be challenging due to the inaccuracy around measuring efficacy and the inability to compare studies due to variations in the type of lasers used, injury models, and treatment protocols.
• In their 1999 study, Petersen et al. attempted to evaluate wound healing, a basic and easily measured treatment effect. The treatment’s impact was measured by comparing the healing wounds treated with LLL therapy with untreated controls over a 50-day period.

Recommendations

• The paper concludes that efforts by researchers to objectively evaluate new treatments should be supported by manufacturers of new treatment technologies, horse organizations, and other funding sources.
• Comparisons with established treatment methods should be made using appropriate scientific methodology. This rigorously validated information helps veterinarians to make informed decisions and provide useful advice to horse owners about treatment alternatives.