Background: Trigger points (TPs) are a muscle-fascial condition, with stretching (ST) of the
affected muscles considered the primary therapeutic approach to restore functionality
to shortened muscle fibres, and LASER therapy (LT) is one of the most common techniques
used in both human and veterinary medicine.
Materials and Methods: This study aimed to compare ST or ST and LT in dogs with hip dysplasia and to establish
the TP locations in this group. Fifteen dogs (100 TPs) were randomly allocated to
a group undergoing four sessions of ST of affected muscles (38 TPs), or to a second
group with ST and LT (62 TPs) at a dosage of 5 J/cm2 (GaAlAs Diode, power density 0.9 W/cm2, 808 nm, continuous mode, power 800 mV, and point-to-point application technique).
Results: There was no difference between the groups at the end of the treatment, with both
achieving over 30% improvement in pain compared to the initial assessment. The addition
of LT at the dosage used did not enhance analgesia (p = 0.4642). The main affected muscles were the longissimus thoracic: 73% left (L),
83% right (R), longissimus lumborum (53% L and 40% R), quadriceps femoris (47% L and
R). The main limitation was the subjective nature of pain assessment, mitigated by
evaluator training and blinding.
Conclusion: ST the muscle groups is an effective technique for reducing myofascial pain in dogs.
However, adding LT at the studied dosage and frequency did not contribute to analgesia.
Future study is recommended with different LT dosages/frequencies to achieve results
similar to those seen in human literature.
