Got a question about a topic like shockwave therapy for pain management?

AAHA may have your answer: The new Go-To Practice Solutions case study videos are easy-to-digest 12- to 15-minute videos hosted by subject matter experts that you can access on your time, at your pace.

Topics will focus on a broad range of challenges in veterinary practice—such as pain management, staff recruitment, retention, and practice workflow—and offer research-validated solutions from AAHA’s industry partners.

Keith Chamberlain, AAHA’s chief value officer, said Go-To Practice Solutions is a case-study approach to solving common issues. “It’s pragmatic information that you can put to work in your practice,” he told NEWStat.  “[The Go-to videos are] something you can turn on that’s going to help solve a problem."

Eventually, AAHA will feature a different Go-To Practice Solutions video case study each month.

In the first video in the series, pain-management expert Robin Downing, DVM, MS, DAAPM, DACVSMR, CVPP, CCRP, discusses how shockwave therapy can be a useful, data-driven, non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical tool for pain management. 

NEWStat spoke to Downing to get a preview of what you can expect from her Go-To Practice pain-management solution:

NEWStat: How can shockwave therapy be a valuable addition to a hospital’s pain-management toolkit?

Robin Downing: This technology has evolved remarkably over the years and is now a treatment that can be applied to a patient in the outpatient setting in just a few minutes.  Most patients don’t need any sedation, unlike previous iterations of this technology, and the typical treatment protocol involves two or three treatments delivered at two-to-three-week intervals.  Occasionally, a patient only requires a single treatment to reap the benefits.

NEWStat:  Shockwave therapy is a new concept for many pet owners. How does it work?

RD: Shockwave therapy involves applying a high-energy soundwave to the skin. Dogs with particularly thick haircoats may have to have the treatment area clipped. The energy that is deposited into the tissue allows the cells to release a complement of compounds that can provide anti-inflammatory effects as well as some that can stimulate bone healing.  Local blood flow increases, and both tendon and ligament healing are enhanced.

In patients with osteoarthritis (OA), for example, their chronic pain and inflammation can be decreased with shockwave therapy by reducing inflammatory cytokines within joints. This process may also slow the progression of degeneration in OA.

NEWStat: How does shockwave therapy fit with the emphasis on proactive and multimodal approaches highlighted in the 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats?

RD: Because shockwave therapy has been shown to reduce joint inflammation in OA, and to slow the degradative process, it makes sense as a proactive tool to slow progression. Likewise, the guidelines provide a laser-beam focus on the importance of taking a multimodal approach to pain management in any and all settings, and a non-pharma tool like shockwave therapy absolutely fits this paradigm.

See Downing’s Go-To Practice Solution video here.

Find out more about multimodal approaches to pain management in the 2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats.

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