Post-Surgical Photobiomodulation Therapy Improves Outcomes Following Elective Gastropexy in Dogs

• 20 large-breed dogs were selected for elective gastropexy and randomly divided into a control (CG, n = 10) and a PBMT group (PBMTG, n = 10)
• All dogs received appropriate systemic & post-op medications for analgesia as well as local blocks with lidocaine
• Incisional gastropexy was performed in all animals, and the researcher performing scoring for outcome measures was blinded.
• PBMTG received PBMT immediately after surgery using an Abdominal Disorders protocol on the CTS-DUO (9J/cm2 at 12W power administered ON contact over the entire abdomen, except for directly over the skin incision [off-contact]).
• Outcome measures included pain scoring using the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale – Short Form (CMPS‑SF) at several time points from 1-24 h post‑endotracheal extubation & the percentage of dogs in each group that had eaten at the same time points.
• No rescue analgesia was needed for any animal

Results 
Significant differences were observed in the pain scores between CG and PBMTG between 1- 4 hrs post-extubation AND PBMTG had a significantly higher proportion of animals eating up to the 8 hr evaluation.

Conclusion 
Adding post-surgical photobiomodulation to a standard anesthesia and analgesia protocol reduced pain scores and increased the proportion of animals that resumed eating compared to the standard protocol alone.

¹ Divisão de Medicina Veterinária, Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), Rua Presidente Arriaga 9, Lisbon 1200-771, Portugal 
² Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal 
³ Centro de Ciência Animal e Veterinária, Lusófona University, Lisbon 1749-024, Portugal 
⁴ MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, Évora 7006-554, Portugal 
⁵ Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

* Correspondence: alves.jca@gnr.pt

Keywords
Gastropexy, pain, photobiomodulation, canine, surgery, laser therapy, dogs, GDV, bloat