Front Matter

116 Canine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

therapy, manual mechanical correction or
facilitation of joint position, and neuromuscular
re‐education/retraining (Soderberg, 1986; Hodges
& Tucker, 2011; Tsao et al., 2011). See Chapter 19
for more on the management of pain in dogs.

Rehabilitation intervention effects, indications,
precautions, and contraindications

Related to the discussion on comorbidities and
physiological response of the body to treatment,
the rehabilitation therapist must consider the
effects, indications, precautions, and con­
traindications of the various modalities and
interventions included in the treatment plan.
Although some might be indicated in the case
of a specific diagnosis, due to other considera­
tions (i.e., comorbidities, red flags), the therapist
might use caution and/or choose to not use an
intervention with a patient, thus making the
rehabilitation plan individualized and patient‐
specific. The rehabilitation therapist should
consider the application of physical rehabili­
tation interventions as potentially harmful as
medications, requiring knowledge, skill, and
experience in prescribing, dosage, and combin­
ing therapeutic procedures.
The reader should refer to chapters specific to
the interventions (manual therapies, therapeutic
exercise, physical modalities, etc.) for guidelines,
discussion of the basic science of the interven­
tion, more specific physiological effects, indica­
tions, precautions, and contraindications.

Physics of rehabilitation interventions

Biomechanics is the study of forces and their
effects on human and animal bodies both dur­
ing movement (dynamics) and at rest (statics)
(O’Sullivan & Schmitz, 1994; TenBroek, 2005).
The rehabilitation therapist must understand
the biomechanical effects of forces applied to
the patient’s body when using specific reha­
bilitation interventions. These forces might
result in acceleration, deceleration, or tissue
deformation, with changes in length, shape, or
orientation of the tissue, stressing the tissue,
and resulting in strengthening or weakening
(and/or repair) of the tissue. Such interven­
tions include manual therapy techniques
(Chapter 6) and therapeutic exercises, both on
land (Chapters 8 and 10) and in the aquatic

environment (Chapter  9), and orthotics

and  prosthetics (Chapter  11). The physics

involved in specific physical electromagnetic

and thermodynamic modalities, including

therapeutic ultrasound, electrical stimula­

tion, laser therapy, heat, and ice, is discussed

in detail in Chapter 7. Specialized knowledge

and skill are necessary for safe application of

these techniques.

Treatment planning in canine

rehabilitation and sports medicine

Following completion of the canine rehabilitation

or sports medicine evaluation, the therapist

should consolidate impairments and functional

limitations in an assessment statement and

suggest a rehabilitation prognosis based on

physiological considerations. Functional goals

will help to determine the canine rehabilitation

plan of care, including general treatment

strategies and more specific treatment tactics or

interventions.

Goal setting

The overall focus of rehabilitation is to meet

functional goals that are realistic for the patient

and meaningful to the client. Long‐term goals

include the restoration, maintenance, and

promotion of maximal and optimal function

and quality of life as related to movement.

Determining realistic and appropriate treat­

ment goals drives the clinician in planning,

monitoring, prioritizing, progressing, and

measuring the effectiveness of the current treat­

ment strategy. It is a difficult process, requiring

skill in the interpretation of objective data col­

lected during the rehabilitation evaluation

and subsequent re‐evaluation, professional

judgment, scientific knowledge, and skill in

facilitating patient (and client) participation in

the process.

The functional limitations and impairments

apparent in the evaluation of the canine patient

guide the therapist in setting appropriate

goals, with additional consideration for the

client’s goals, physiological considerations

(including comorbidities, contraindications,