Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies
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Focus Alternat Complement Ther©2005 Pharmaceutical Press
Focus Altern Complement Ther 2006; 11: 38–9
A fixed drug combination of glucocorticoids, sympatho-mimetics and secretolytics (GSS) is known to be short-time effective in horses with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), but long-term results remain unsatisfying. To evaluate whether the effectiveness of laser acupuncture (LA) is not inferior to standard therapy.
Sixty horses with RAO were randomised to a daily therapy with either GSS or LA and treated for 7 days. LA was semi-standardised and performed by one single person. The main outcome parameter was the alveolo-arterial difference in oxygen partial pressure (ΔpO2). The assessment of clinical parameters (cough, dyspnoea, lung auscultation) was masked and done by otherwise not involved veterinaries.
Mean ΔpO2 reduced from 16.5 to 5.9 mmHg in the GSS group and from 19.3 to 6.6 mmHg in the LA group. Thus, LA could be statistically confirmed to be not inferior to GSS (P < 0.02). Clinical scores improved more in the LA group (P < 0.01).
LA is a promising alternative to conventional treatment strategies. Further trials should compare long-term results and adverse events.
This work was funded by a grant from the Karl und Veronica Carstens-Stiftung, Essen, Germany.
