Acupuncture Analgesia in Water Buffaloes

News source: The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development
For further information: Acorda, J.A., et al., Application of acupuncture analgesia and therapy in water buffaloes. Highlights 2000, PCARRD, Los Banos, Laguna 2001, pp. 179-182., 2002-03-01

Reducing the High Cost of Veterinary Medicine

The high cost of veterinary medicines and biologicals prevents small-scale water buffalo raisers from using these during surgical procedures, or to treat various diseases and disorders. This results in reduced production and reproduction efficiency.

Acupuncture for Analgesia

An alternative procedure, acupuncture analgesia, was studied to find out if this would produce analgesia during surgical procedures and hasten recovery of water buffaloes from surgical procedures such as castration and rumenostomy. We also studied the usefulness of acupuncture in treating reproductive disorders, specifically post-partum infertility in water buffaloes.

Three Acupuncture Points

Results revealed that electroacupuncture using three acupuncture point (acupoint) combinations located along the vertebral column and under the tail base induced analgesia in different parts of the body. Specifically, the three acupoints used were the following: 1) Acupoints #31 and #26; 2) Acupoints #31 and #47; and 3) Acupoints #31 and #52. Induction of electroacupuncture analgesia varied from eight to twenty-five minutes, following the stimulation of particular acupoints.

Effect Similar to Local Anasthetic

Electroacupuncture analgesia can be used in place of conventional anesthesia when inhibiting the fertility of male buffaloes by vasocclusion. The effects of local anesthesia and electroacupuncture analgesia were similar in terms of healing rate. Results also showed that electroacupuncture analgesia can be used in place of lidocaine for rumenostomy.

Treatment of Postpartum Anestrus

Acupuncture with a hypodermic needle has the potential to be used as an alternative method to treat postpartum anestrus in water buffaloes. Acupuncture induced a shorter interval from calving to first heat, calving to first corpus luteum development, first follicular development to first heat, and first follicular development to first corpus luteum development.

These results were obtained under controlled conditions. It is recommended that acupuncture to induce analgesia for therapeutic procedures be tested under actual field conditions.

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