15 May 2025
Newly published analysis suggests fluorescent therapy could substantially reduce antibiotic usage in the treatment of canine interdigital furunculosis.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Fluorescent light energy (FLE) treatment could minimise the need for antibiotics and reduce time to clinical resolution in cases of canine interdigital furunculosis (CIF), a new study has claimed.
Researchers described the findings, published in Veterinary Dermatology, as “very exciting”, although they acknowledge more studies are needed to assess the treatment’s full potential clinical settings.
The analysis, which was conducted at 10 centres in the UK, Europe and Canada, examined the effectiveness of treating the skin condition with FLE in conjunction with antibiotics compared with just antibiotics alone.
Antibiotic treatment was administered to 35 dogs with CIF in at least two paws, with each dog acting as its own control – determined by a coin toss, one paw was treated with FLE while the other was not.
Over an eight-week period, the dogs were given a weekly FLE treatment and assessed by a principal investigator – who was unaware of the intervention assignment – every fortnight.
FLE treatment consisted of the application of a topical gel to the paw lesions followed by a two-minute illumination of the area with a blue LED; this process was carried out twice per session.
The researchers found that 50% of paws with FLE intervention achieved clinical resolution after four weeks compared with just 17% without FLE, and by the end of the eight weeks 88% of those with FLE had achieved resolution compared with 54% without.
The FLE group had a median time to clinical resolution of 35 days, while the control group had a median time of 56 days.
No adverse reactions were observed throughout the trial, and none of the dogs required sedation or immobilisation during their treatment.
Paper co-author Dr Anja Lange, of AniCura Kleintierspezialisten Augsburg’s department of dermatology, said: “Canine interdigital furunculosis is a challenging condition to treat that can be prolonged and frustrating.
“Having FLE as an additional management tool is very exciting, not least because it speeds up time to healing, but it also requires us to use less antibiotics.
“The use of FLE was well accepted by all of the dog owners from the study and the dogs themselves tolerated it well, showing it can be a very useful adjunct to cases in clinical practice.”
