Acupuncture for disc disease

This abstract, published on the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
September 15, 2007, Vol. 231, No. 6, Pages 913-918 , shows the efficacy of Acupuncture for treating intervertebral disk disease:

Evaluation of acupuncture treatment for thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease in dogs
Ayne Murata Hayashi, DVM, MSc, Julia Maria Matera, DVM, PhD, Ana Carolina Brandão de Campos Fonseca Pinto, DVM, PhD
Department of Surgery, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo-SP, Brazil 05508-900. (Hayashi, Matera, de Campos Fonseca Pinto)
Supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).
Presented as an abstract at 7th Brazilian College of Veterinary Surgery and Anaesthesiology Congress, Santos, Brazil, September 2006.
Address correspondence to Dr. Hayashi.
Objective—To evaluate use of  acupuncture combined with standard Western medical treatment versus Western medical treatment alone for treatment of thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease in dogs.
Design—Prospective controlled study.
Animals—50 dogs with signs of thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease.
Procedures—Dogs were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 treatment groups and classified as having grade 1 to 5 neurologic dysfunction. Dogs in group 1 received electroacupuncture stimulation combined with standard Western medical treatment; those in group 2 received only standard Western medical treatment. A numeric score for neurologic function was evaluated at 4 time points to evaluate effects of treatments.
Results—Time (mean ± SD) to recover ambulation in dogs with grade 3 and 4 dysfunction in group 1 (10.10 ± 6.49 days) was significantly lower than in group 2 (20.83 ± 11.99 days). Success (able to walk without assistance) rate for dogs with grade 3 and 4 dysfunction in group 1 (10/10 dogs) was significantly higher than that of similarly affected dogs in group 2 (6/9 dogs). Dogs without deep pain perception (grade 5 dysfunction) had a success (recovery of pain sensation) rate of 3 of 6 and 1 of 8 in groups 1 and 2, respectively, but the difference was not significant. Overall success rate (all dysfunction grades) for group 1 (23/26; 88.5%) was significantly higher than for group 2 (14/24; 58.3%).
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—acupuncture combined with standard Western medical treatment was effective and resulted in shorter time to recover ambulation and deep pain perception than did use of Western treatment alone in dogs with signs of thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease.

Etiquetas: acupuncture, slipped disk acupuncture