Did you know that your pet can benefit from acupuncture? 

Acupuncture stimulates healing in some conditions and provides effective pain relief in others. It is a safe and effective treatment option for many conditions and may reduce or eliminate the need for chronic medication. 

Here are a few of the comments/questions we get about veterinary acupuncture…

Is It Possible To Hurt My Dog's Hips?

After many studies, both in the PennHIP laboratory and in independent laboratories, there is no evidence to suggest that the PennHIP procedure is any more harmful than the standard hip-extended procedure. Certainly, in dogs having extreme laxity and pain associated with inflammation and advanced osteoarthritis of hip dysplasia, any manipulation of the hip(e.g. OFA, PennHIP, routine orthopedic examination) can potentially cause transient discomfort (1- 2 days).

What Is Cavitation And How Does It Affect My Pet’s PennHIP Radiographs?

If you've ever cracked your knuckles, you've created cavitation. This phenomenon can occur, though rarely, during the distraction procedure. Cavitation is not painful and does not cause short- or long-term damage to the joint. This void appears as an air bubble on the radiograph and it causes the DI measurement to be unreliable, therefore PennHip images need to be redone in >24 hours.

Will AKC And Other Breed Registration Organizations"Recognize"PennHIP?

In 1996, the AKC board of directors announced plans to remove all health and genetic information from the official AKC registration and to include it along with PennHIP information in the "Information and Health Database" known as CHIC. This database is managed by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals and breeders and dog owners may apply to enter PennHIP information for a fee of $25.00.

Does The Distraction Index Significantly Change Over Time?

A study of large breed dogs showed that the distraction index stayed the same over time (within acceptable statistical limits) and was much more reliable over time than other methods such as the Norberg angle and the OFA scoring method.

Are OFA Radiographs Different/better Than PennHIP Images In Assessing The Hip Joint?

Results suggested that OFA scoring radiographs (x-rays) underestimated susceptibility to osteoarthritis in dogs.

Accuracy of OFA-criteria scoring was poor:

  • *92% of dogs scored "normal" at 2 years of age developed histopathologic osteoarthritis of CHD at end of life.

In contrast, the PennHIP DI at 2 years of age-predicted all 48 dogs were susceptible to OA of CHD and by the natural end of life, 98% of these dogs had radiographic or histopathologic evidence of OA.

Want to learn more?

For a detailed explanation of the procedure/more information, visit the AIS PennHIP website or watch their video here.

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