Effectiveness of acupuncture for equine laminitis: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background and aim: In the past 20 years, acupuncture has been utilized as an alternative therapy for equine laminitis despite a lack of clinical evidence to support its effectiveness. Information from previous studies needs to be evaluated holistically to verify the effectiveness of acupuncture. This meta-analysis aimed to comprehensively investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture as a treatment for laminitis in horses.

Materials and methods: A total of 7 studies out of 145 were selected in the PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and ProQuest databases using the keywords "equine laminitis," "acupuncture," "horses," and "lameness score." Articles were selected following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis flow diagram, and the extracted data were analyzed using OpenMEE software to determine Hedges' d effect size and Log Odds Ratio.

Results: As a result, this meta-analysis study reported that acupuncture improves horses with laminitis (Odds Ratio = 2.254; 95% CI = 1.167-4.355) and has a favorable effect on lameness scores (mean difference = -5.008; 95% CI = -8.094--1.923).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis enhanced the clinical studies demonstrating that twice-weekly acupuncture performed for 4 weeks consecutively can ameliorate lameness scores and a horse's potential for recovery. These investigations have led to the implementation of dry needling, hemo-acupuncture, aqua-acupuncture, and electroacupuncture as alternate treatments for equine laminitis.