The Beneficial Effects of High-Intensity Laser Therapy and Co-Interventions on Musculoskeletal Pain Management: A Systematic Review

Introduction: High-intensity laser therapy (HILT) has been used more recently in the therapeutic protocols of pain managements. Adding therapeutic interventions to laser therapy is usual in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of HILT and beneficial effects of adding cointerventions to HILT in musculoskeletal pain management. Methods: The following databases were searched up to August 2018: Medline, PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Google Scholar, Springer and ISI. The keywords of pain, HILT, high power laser therapy, laser therapy, photobiomodulation, physical therapy and rehabilitation were searched. The quality of the articles was assessed using the PEDro scale. The primary measure was pain severity expected to be reported in all studies. Effect size was calculated as standardized mean differences divided by the standard deviation of either the treatment or other group. Results: Initially 52 potential studies were found. Eighteen of these studies were excluded based on title and abstract. The full text of 34 remaining articles was screened and 15 of the studies were excluded. All included studies had high quality (PEDro ≥7). Approximately, 94% of included articles (n=18) revealed positive effects of HILT on pain. The effect sizes for HILT and placebo/comparator groups were 0.9-9.11 and 0.21-11.22 respectively. Also, the differences of effect size between two groups were between 0.03 to 5.85. Conclusion: It is early to determine that HILT may be an effective non-invasive agent in the management of musculoskeletal pain, as few studies have shown its clinical efficacy. Adding related co-interventions to HILT may enhance the beneficial effects of laser therapy. The variability of the study methods and outcomes suggests that further long-term follow-up, randomized controlled clinical trials with appropriate methodological design are needed regarding the effectiveness of HILT on pain.

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The Aim of This Study is to Determine the Effects of High Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) in Patients With Subacromial Impingement Syndrome (SIS)

Case Medical Research ◽

10.31525/ct1-nct04169880 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Laser Therapy ◽

High Intensity ◽

Impingement Syndrome ◽

Subacromial Impingement Syndrome ◽

Subacromial Impingement ◽

High Intensity Laser ◽

Intensity Laser

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Faculty Opinions recommendation of Efficacy of high-intensity laser therapy in the treatment of chronic neck pain: a randomized double-blind placebo-control trial.

Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature ◽

10.3410/f.726184991.793540079 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Paul White

Keyword(s):

Neck Pain ◽

Laser Therapy ◽

High Intensity ◽

Chronic Neck Pain ◽

Placebo Control Trial ◽

Placebo Control ◽

Double Blind ◽

Double Blind Placebo ◽

High Intensity Laser ◽

Intensity Laser

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Comparison of the efficiency of high-intensity laser therapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation therapy in patients with symptomatic temporomandibular joint disc displacement with reduction

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ◽

10.1016/j.joms.2021.07.014 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Assist. Prof. Dr. Ömer Ekici ◽

Prof. Dr. Ümit Dündar ◽

Murat Büyükbosna

Keyword(s):

Laser Therapy ◽

Nerve Stimulation ◽

High Intensity ◽

Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation ◽

Disc Displacement ◽

Electrical Nerve Stimulation ◽

Temporomandibular Joint Disc ◽

High Intensity Laser ◽

Disc Displacement With Reduction ◽

Intensity Laser

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Comparison of high-intensity laser therapy and combination of ultrasound treatment and transcutaneous nerve stimulation in patients with cervical spondylosis: a randomized controlled trial

Lasers in Medical Science ◽

10.1007/s10103-018-2682-7 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (5) ◽

pp. 947-953

Author(s):

M. Venosa ◽

E. Romanini ◽

R. Padua ◽

S. Cerciello

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Laser Therapy ◽

Nerve Stimulation ◽

High Intensity ◽

Cervical Spondylosis ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

High Intensity Laser ◽

Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation ◽

Intensity Laser

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A Randomised-Controlled Clinical Study Examining the Effect of High-Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) on the Management of Painful Calcaneal Spur with Plantar Fasciitis

Journal of Clinical Medicine ◽

10.3390/jcm10214891 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (21) ◽

pp. 4891

Author(s):

Piotr Tkocz ◽

Tomasz Matusz ◽

Łukasz Kosowski ◽

Karolina Walewicz ◽

Łukasz Argier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pain Management ◽

High Intensity ◽

Plantar Fasciitis ◽

Heel Pain ◽

The Other ◽

Control Group ◽

Study Group ◽

Calcaneal Spur ◽

High Intensity Laser ◽

Intensity Laser

Calcaneal spur and plantar fasciitis are the most common causes of plantar heel pain. There are many effective physical modalities for treating this musculoskeletal disorder. So far, the are no clear recommendations confirming the clinical utility of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) in the management of painful calcaneal spur with plantar fasciitis. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of HILT in pain management in patients with calcaneal spur and plantar fasciitis. A group of 65 patients was assessed for eligibility based on the CONSORT guidelines. This study was prospectively registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry platform (registration number ACTRN12618000744257, 3 May 2018). The main eligibility criteria were: cancer, pregnancy, electronic and metal implants, acute infections, impaired blood coagulation, cardiac arrhythmias, taking analgesic or anti-inflammatory medications, non-experience of heel pain, or presence of other painful foot conditions. Finally, 60 patients were randomly assigned into two groups: study group (n = 30, mean age 59.9 ± 10.1), treated with HILT (7 W, 149.9 J/cm2, 1064 nm, 4496 J, 12 min), and placebo-controlled group (n = 30, mean age 60.4 ± 11.9), treated with sham HILT therapy. Both groups received ultrasound treatments (0.8 W/cm2, 1 MHz frequency, 100% load factor, 5 min). Treatment procedures were performed once a day, five times per week for three weeks (total of 15 treatment sessions). Study outcomes focused on pain intensity and were assessed before (M1) and after (M2) the treatment as well as after 4 (M3) and 12 (M4) weeks using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Laitinen Pain Scale (LPS). According to VAS, a statistically significant decrease in the study group was observed between M1 and M2 by 3.5 pts, M1 and M3 by 3.7 pts, and M1 and M4 by 3.2 pts (p < 0.001). On the other hand, the control group showed a statistically significant decrease (p < 0.001) between M1 and M2 by 3.0 pts, M1 and M3 by 3.4 pts, and M1 and M4 by 3.2 pts. According to LPS, a statistically significant decrease in the study group was observed between M1 and M2 by 3.9 pts, M1 and M3 by 4.2 pts, and M1 and M4 by 4.0 pts (p < 0.001). On the other hand, the control group showed a statistically significant decrease between M1 and M2 by 3.2 pts (p = 0.002), M1 and M3 by 4.0 pts (p < 0.001), and M1 and M4 by 3.9 pts (p < 0.001). However, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in VAS and LPS (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the HILT does not appear to be more effective in pain management of patients with calcaneal spurs and plantar fasciitis than the conservative standard physiotherapeutic procedures.

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