Photothermal Effects of High-Intensity Laser Therapy on the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon Area in Clinically Healthy Racehorses

Paulina Zielińska; Maria Soroko; Maria Godlewska; Karolina Śniegucka; Krzysztof Dudek; Kevin Howell

doi:10.3390/ani12101253

Photothermal Effects of High-Intensity Laser Therapy on the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon Area in Clinically Healthy Racehorses

Animals (Basel). 2022 May 12;12(10):1253. doi: 10.3390/ani12101253.

Authors

Paulina Zielińska¹, Maria Soroko², Maria Godlewska¹, Karolina Śniegucka¹, Krzysztof Dudek³, Kevin Howell⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, pl. Grunwaldzki 51, 50-366 Wroclaw, Poland.
² Institute of Animal Breeding, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Chelmonskiego 38C, 51-160 Wroclaw, Poland.
³ Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Wroclaw University of Technology, Lukasiewicza 7/9, 50-231 Wroclaw, Poland.
⁴ Microvascular Diagnostics, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London NW3 2QG, UK.

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess the photothermal effects of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) on the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) of the hindlimb in racehorses. It was conducted on 18 clinically healthy thoroughbreds that were subjected to thermographic examination to measure surface temperature changes in the SDFT. This was performed before and immediately after HILT. This revealed statistically significant differences in the temperature of the skin surface overlying the flexor tendons (p < 0.001). The surface temperature of the area examined was higher by an average of 3.5 °C after HILT, compared with the temperature measured before HILT. Our results prove that HILT has a photothermal effect in treating soft tissue. This finding can be helpful in determining the appropriate parameters for monitoring the short- and long-term effects of HILT.

Keywords: high-intensity laser therapy; racehorse; thermography.

Grants and funding

This research was co-financed under the Leading Research Groups support project, from a subsidy increased for the period 2020–2025 by an amount of 2% of the subsidy referred to in Art. 387 (3) of the Law of 20 July 2018 on Higher Education and Science, obtained in 2019. The APC/BPC was financed/co-financed by Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences.