Introduction

• Believed to have originated in Tibet or India and considered to be one of the oldest therapies in the world - practised from as far back as 2000-3000 BC. It has been used in China for at least 3000 years.
• Early acupuncture instruments were made from sharpened stone, bone or bamboo.
• One of the main aspects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
• Useful to consider acupuncture (as with other aspects of TCM), within a holistic framework (in terms of its action and properties), as opposed to western medicine that tends to consider the body (and thus health and illness), as distinct individual components.
• Use of acupuncture has been mainly confined to China. However, in recent years (since 1920), its use has gained in popularity in the west as a viable method of healing.
• The use of acupuncture within a veterinary context has grown rapidly since the 1950s and it is now widely accepted as a form of treatment and therapy.

Concepts underlying acupuncture

Scientific explanations of acupuncture

Recommended points and location

Recommended needles

Common conditions amenable to acupuncture in rabbits

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Habacher G, Pittler M H & Ernst E (2006) Effectiveness of acupuncture in veterinary medicine: systematic review. J Vet Intern Med 20 (3), 480-488 PubMed.
• Xie H & Ortiz-Umpierre C (2006) What acupuncture can and cannot treat. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 42 (4), 244-248 PubMed.
• Chiu J H, Cheng H C, Tai C H et al (2001) Electroacupuncture-induced neural activation detected by use of manganese-enhanced functional magnetic resonance imaging in rabbits. Am J Vet Res 62 (2), 178-82 PubMed. 
• Scott S (2001) Developments in veterinary acupuncture. Acupunct Med 19 (1), 27-31 PubMed.
• Gaynor J S (2000) Acupuncture for management of pain. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 30 (4), 875-884 PubMed.
• Mittleman E & Gaynor J S (2000) A brief overview of the analgesic and immunologic effects of acupuncture in domestic animals. JAVMA 217 (8), 1201-1205 PubMed. 
• Ho M W, Knight D P (1998) The acupuncture system and the liquid crystalline collagen fibers of the connective tissues. Am J Chin Med 26 (3-4), 251-263 PubMed.
• Bossut D F (1996) Veterinary clinical applications of acupuncture. J Altern Complement Med 2 (1), 65-69 PubMed.
• Takagi J, Sawada T & Yonehara N (1996) A possible involvement of monoaminergic and opioidergic systems in the analgesia induced by electro-acupuncture in rabbits. Jpn J Pharmacol 70 (1), 73-80 PubMed.
• Yu C, Zhang K, Lu G et al (1994) Characteristics of acupuncture meridians and acupoints in animals. Rev Sci Tech 13 (3), 927-933 PubMed.
• Janssens L A (1993) The role of acupuncture in analgesia. Tijdschr Diergeneeskd 118 (Suppl 1), 11S-12S PubMed.
• Altman S (1992) Techniques and instrumentation. Probl Vet Med 4 (1), 66-87 PubMed. 
• Altman S (1992) The incorporation of acupuncture into a small animal practice. Probl Vet Med 4 (1), 223-233 PubMed.
• Limehouse J B (1992) Oriental concepts of acupuncture. Probl Vet Med 4 (1), 53-65 PubMed. 
• Schoen A M (1992) Acupuncture for musculoskeletal disorders. Probl Vet Med 4 (1), 88-97 PubMed. 

Other sources of information

• Xie H & Preast V (2007) Xies Veterinary Acupuncture. Blackwell Publishing.
• Lindley S & Cummings M (2006) Essentials of Western Veterinary Acupuncture. Blackwell Publishing.
• Schoen A (2000) Veterinary Acupuncture. Ancient Art to Modern Medicine. 2nd edn. Mosby. 
• Ernst E & White A (1999) Eds Acupuncture A Scientific Appraisal. Butterworth.
• Filshie J & White A (1998) Eds Medical Acupuncture A Western Scientific Approach. Churchill Livingstone.
• Schoen & Wynn (1997) Complementary and Alternative Veterinary Medicine. Mosby.
• Schoen A (1994) Veterinary Acupuncture. Ancient Art to Modern Medicine. Mosby.