Coral Springs Animal Hospital's Pawfessional Spring 2017 | Page 19

applied. The patients in our study are
under anesthesia at the time of
treatment. Treatment times are less
than 5 minutes per area.
When treating tendon and ligament
injuries, the aim is to increase blood
supply and stimulate regeneration of
tendon tissue.
ESWT has shown
promise in the treatment of biceps
and supraspinatus tendinopathies
avoiding the need for surgery in most
cases. Treatments may need to be
performed 1-3 times about 3 weeks
apart. For osteoarthritis, ESWT has
been shown to provide pain relief and
decrease in lameness similar to that
of NSAID treatment. This makes it
particularly beneficial in patients with
intolerance to NSAIDs due to
concurrent medical issues.
The
expectation of treatment is healing of
soft tissue or bone injuries, or
symptom relief from osteoarthritis for
6-12 months.
Shock wave therapy should not be
used over neoplastic lesions, the
thorax, or abdomen and it is not a
replacement for fracture stabilization
or traditional wound management. It
is however, a very useful tool to add
to your tool box for multi-modal
treatment plans for osteoarthritis,
tendon or ligament injuries, and some
fractures and orthopedic surgeries. It
is also used in human medicine to
treat
delayed
and
non-union
fractures, plantar fasciitis, shoulder
tendinitis/rotator cuff injury, and
acute and chronic wound healing
(including diabetic ulcers).