Veterinary acupuncture

According to traditional chinese medicine, the Baihui acupuncture point in humans, which is the midpoint of a line connecting both ears, is anatomically similar to the Dafengmen point in pigs

Veterinary acupuncture is the practice of performing acupuncture on animals.[1]

History

Traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (TCVM) has been practised on animals for thousands of years. Traditionally, it was performed on more agricultural animals such as horses and cows, but in more modern times, it has been used increasingly on pet animals. Acupuncture is one of the 5 branches of TCVM.

In historical Asian culture, people known as "Horse priests" commonly used acupuncture. The flow of information from the East to the West regarding animal treatment, including acupuncture, is thought to have started from Mesopotamia in 300 B.C. Acupuncture remained a major interest in veterinary medicine for centuries. Its use for dogs was first described in the Tang Dynasty.[2]

In the 20th Century, veterinary physicians in the United States practiced acupuncture as early as the 1970s after its introduction in 1971 by the National Acupuncture Association. In the process of treating thousands of small animals and several hundred horses, veterinarians were trained who later founded the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society (IVAS).[3] The demand for veterinary acupuncture has steadily increased since the 1990s.[4]

Practice

Acupuncture is used mainly for functional problems such as those involving noninfectious inflammation, paralysis, or pain. For small animals, acupuncture has been used for treating arthritis, hip dysplasia, lick granuloma, feline asthma, diarrhea, and certain reproductive problems. For larger animals, acupuncture has been used for treating downer cow syndrome, facial nerve paralysis, allergic dermatitis, respiratory problems, nonsurgical colic, and certain reproductive disorders. Acupuncture has also been used on competitive animals, such as those involved in racing and showing.[5] Veterinary Acupuncture has also recently been used on more exotic animals, such as an alligator with scoliosis,[6] though this is still quite rare.

Efficacy

In 2001, a review found insufficient evidence to support equine acupuncture. The review found uniformly negative results in the highest quality studies.[7] In 2006, a systematic review of veterinary acupuncture found "no compelling evidence to recommend or reject acupuncture for any condition in domestic animals," citing trials with, on average, low methodological quality or that are in need of independent replication.[1] In 2009, a review on canine arthritis found "weak or no evidence in support of” various treatments, including acupuncture.[8]

Recent (i.e. post-2011) reviews in both veterinary text books[2][9][10][11] and scientific journals[12][13][14][15][16] indicate that acupuncture can be used for therapeutic or homeostatic effects in animals, especially in the three areas of pain management, geriatric medicine and sports medicine. Conditions that have the best responses to veterinary acupuncture are considered to be pain, immune-related dysfunction and visceral dysfunction.[11]

In 2015, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) and American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) issued joint guidelines for the management of pain in cats and dogs. The guidelines stated "There is a solid and still growing body of evidence for the use of acupuncture for the treatment of pain in veterinary medicine to the extent that it is now an accepted treatment modality for painful animals."[17]

Related methods

Acupuncture relates to the use of dry needles, however, there are several related methods which do not use these, or may use a modified type of needle or stimulator.

A study on the use of electroacupuncture on dogs after back surgery reported ambiguous results. In the study, the post-operation dogs were assigned a pain score eight times within a 72-hour time-frame. Though significantly lower pain scores were found in the treatment group at 36 hours, the scores did not differ from the control group at any other time.[19]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Habacher, Gabriele; Pittler, Max H.; Ernst, Edzard (2006). "Effectiveness of acupuncture in veterinary medicine: Systematic review". Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 20 (3): 480–488. doi:10.1111/j.1939-1676.2006.tb02885.x. ISSN 0891-6640. PMID 16734078.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Karen M. Tobias and Spencer A. Johnston., ed. (2012). Veterinary Surgery: Small Animal. Elsevier.
  3. ↑ Cohn, Sherman (18 October 2008), "The History of Acupuncture", given to the General Assembly at the AAAOM’s 2008 Conference
  4. ↑ "Animal Acupuncture: More Pets Get the Point". National Geographic. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  5. ↑ "Veterinary Acupuncture". International Veterinary Acupuncture Society. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. ↑ "Albino Alligator Gets Acupuncture".
  7. ↑ Ramey, DW, Lee, M and Messer, NT (2001). "A Review of the Western Veterinary Literature on Equine Acupuncture". J. Eq. Vet. Sci. 21 (2): 56–60. doi:10.1016/s0737-0806(01)70091-3.
  8. ↑ Sanderson, R.O., Beata, C., Flipo, R.M., Genevois, J.P., Macias, C., Tacke, S., Vezzoni, A. and Innes, J.F. (April 4, 2009). "Systematic review of the management of canine arthritis". Veterinary Record 164 (14): 418–24.
  9. ↑ William W. Muir III, John A.E. Hubbell, Richard Bednarski and Philip Lerche., ed. (2013). "Chapter 19: Integrative medicine: Acupuncture analgesia". Handbook of Veterinary Anesthesia. (5 ed.). Elsevier.
  10. ↑ Ortel, S., Goldberg, M.E., Conarton, L., Koudelka, K. and Downing. R. (2015). "Chapter 17: The veterinary technician in althernative therapies". In Mary Ellen Goldberg. Pain Management for Veterinary Technicians and Nurses. John Wiley and Sons: Ames, Iowa. p. 317.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Skarda R.T. and Glowaski, M. "Chapter 24: Acupuncture". In Tranquilli, W.J., Thurmon, J.C and Grimm, K.A. Lumb and Jones' Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia (4 ed.). Blackwell Publishing.
  12. ↑ Xie H. and Wedemeyer, L. (2012). "Reviews: The validity of acupuncture in veterinary medicine.". American Journal of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine 7 (1): 35–44.
  13. ↑ Hulea, C.I. and Cristina, R.T. (2012). "Acupuncture as a therapeutic tool in health disorders in animals: A review.". Scientific Papers: Animal Science and Biotechnologies 45 (2): 166–177.
  14. ↑ Araújo, A.M.S. (2014). "Acupuncture in equine reproductive disorders (Review)". PUBVET 8 (18). ISSN 1982-1263.
  15. ↑ Parrah, J.D., Moulvi, B.A., Dedmari, F.H., Athar, H. and Kalim, M.O. (2012). "Acupuncture in veterinary medicine - a review.". Veterinary Practitioner 13 (2): 370–373. ISSN 0972-4036.
  16. ↑ Corti, L. (2014). "Nonpharmaceutical approaches to pain management". Topics in Companion Animal Medicine 29 (1): 24–28.
  17. ↑ AAHA/AAFP (2015). "2015 AAHA/AAFP pain management guidelines for dogs and cats" (PDF). Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery 17: 251–272.
  18. ↑ Schweitzer, A. (2013). "Chapter 19 Integrative medicine: Acupuncture analgesia". In William W. Muir III, John A.E. Hubbell, Richard Bednarski and Philip Lerche. Handbook of Veterinary Anesthesia. Elsevier.
  19. ↑ Laim, A., Jaggy, A., Forterre, F. et al. (2009). "Effects of adjunct electroacupuncture on severity of postoperative pain in dogs undergoing hemilaminectomy because of acute thoracolumbar intervertebral disk disease". J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc. 234 (9): 1141–6. doi:10.2460/javma.234.9.1141.

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