High-power laser therapy is often used as a treatment for human sport injuries but controlled standardized studies on its efficacy are lacking. The technique has also been introduced in the equine field and recently promising results were reported in a retrospective study focusing on 150 sporthorses suffering from tendinopathy and desmopathy of the SDFT, DDFT, suspensory ligament, and suspensory branches. The goal of the present study was to evaluate the effect of high-power laser in a standardized lesion model in horses. Lesions were created in all lateral suspensory branches of 12 warmblood horses. In each horse, 2 of the 4 lesioned branches were treated daily with a multi-frequency high-power laser for 4 weeks. Color Doppler ultrasonography was performed during and after the treatment period. Six horses were euthanized 4 weeks post-surgery (short-term) and 6 were further rehabilitated until 6 months and then euthanized (long-term). High-field MRI evaluation was performed on all cadaver limbs. On ultrasound, transverse size of the lesion was significantly smaller after 2- and 3 months (p = 0.026 and p = 0.015) in the treated branches. The expected post-surgery enlargement of the lesion circumference and cross-sectional area (CSA) over time, was significantly lower in the short-term laser treated group (p = 0.016 and p = 0.010). Treated lesions showed a significantly increased Doppler signal during treatment (p < 0.001) compared with control. On MRI, in the short and long-term group, the CSA of the lesions was significantly smaller (p = 0.002), and the mean signal significantly lower in the treatment groups (p = 0.006). This standardized controlled study shows that multi-frequency high-power laser therapy significantly improves healing of a suspensory branch ligament lesion.

高功率激光疗法通常被用作人类运动损伤的治疗方法，但缺乏对其功效的受控标准化研究。该技术也已被引入马术领域，最近的一项回顾性研究报告了有希望的结果，该研究集中于150名遭受SDFT，DDFT，悬韧带和悬支肌腱病和脱皮的运动马。本研究的目的是在马的标准病变模型中评估高功率激光的效果。在12匹温血马的所有侧悬支中都形成了病变。每匹马每天都使用多频高功率激光治疗4个病变分支中的2个，持续4周。在治疗期间和之后进行彩色多普勒超声检查。在手术后4周（短期）对6匹马实施安乐死，对6匹马进行进一步修复直至6个月，然后对其进行安乐死（长期）。对所有尸体四肢进行高场MRI评估。在超声检查中，病变的横向尺寸在2个月和3个月后显着减小（p = 0.026并且 p= 0.015）。在短期激光治疗组中，随着时间的推移，病灶周长和横截面积（CSA）的预期手术后扩大显着降低（p = 0.016并且 p= 0.010）。在治疗过程中，治疗的病变显示多普勒信号明显增强（p<0.001）。在MRI上，在短期和长期组中，病变的CSA明显较小（p = 0.002），且治疗组的平均信号明显偏低（p= 0.006）。这项标准化的对照研究表明，多频高功率激光治疗可显着改善悬吊支韧带病变的愈合。