Effect of pulsed high intensity laser therapy on delayed caesarean section healing in diabetic women.
Ali Abd El-Monsif Thabet, Hesham Galal Mahran, Anwar Abdelgayed Ebid and 1 others
PMID 29706708WHAT IT FOUND
In diabetic women with delayed caesarean wounds, adding pulsed high-intensity laser to standard care produced smaller wounds and better appearance than sham laser.
Standard care included glycaemic control, nutrition, moist dressings, topical management, oedema reduction, surgical debridement, antibiotics.
Key findings
01At post-treatment, mean wound size was 0.45 in the HILT group and 2.90 in the sham group, with a significant difference favoring HILT.
02At post-treatment, mean wound appearance score was 13.45 in the HILT group and 19.15 in the sham group, with a significant difference favoring HILT.
03Each group, including the sham group, had significant decreases in wound size and appearance.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 40 women were studied, all diabetic and with delayed caesarean wound healing for more than 8 weeks, so the results may not apply to other patients or wounds. The paper does not report how many participants dropped out or were analysed at each time point. The assignment method is described as systematic sampling, and the paper does not clearly state who was blinded to treatment or outcome assessment. Both groups received multiple standard care components, including good glycaemic control, adequate nutrition, moist dressings and topical management, lessening of oedema, surgical debridement of devitalised wound tissue, and antibiotic therapy, so the effect of any single standard care component cannot be separated. The study was done in Makkah hospitals and included a small sample, so applicability to other settings is limited.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pulsed high-intensity laser alone healed these wounds. Every participant also received standard care for diabetes and caesarean wounds, including good glycaemic control, adequate nutrition, moist dressings and topical management, lessening of oedema, surgical debridement of devitalised wound tissue, and antibiotic therapy. The study does not separate the contribution of any one of those components.