REHABILITATION OF CATTLE WITH ACUPUNCTURE AND COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE

摘要

Cattle rehabilitation is a new area of large animal practice. There is little evidence and information available in the literature (Kothbauer2002) and to our knowledge, there is no data on the use of physical therapy and other rehabilitation techniques for cattle.Neurological (NL) and orthopedic (OL) lesions are very common in cattle. Clinical signs include hyporexia, difficulty to walk, lameness, carpal and fetlock joint flexion, limb extension, no weight bearing, edema of the limbs, pain in cases of orthopediclesions or absence of pain or reduced sensitivity, when peripheral nerve damage is present. Conventional treatments generally consist of stall rest and administration of non-steroid antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Cold immersion alternated with heat may also be used. Although steroids are used frequently, this may be contra indicated in cattle undergoing semen collection.