Effects of high intensity laser therapy on pain and function of patients with chronic back pain.
Hyeun-Woo Choi, Jongmin Lee, Sangyong Lee and 4 others
PMID 28626329WHAT IT FOUND
Adding high-intensity laser therapy to conservative physical therapy for four weeks was linked with lower pain and disability scores than conservative physical therapy alone in 20 patients with chronic back pain.
Key findings
01The laser-plus-physical-therapy group had significantly lower post-treatment VAS and ODI scores than the physical-therapy-only group.
02Post-treatment pain scores were 3.4 ± 0.8 points in the laser-plus-physical-therapy group and 6.2 ± 1.4 points in the physical-therapy-only group; disability scores were 19.0 ± 10.6% and 29.6 ± 10.7%, respectively.
03Both groups had significant within-group decreases in VAS pain and ODI disability after treatment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 20 patients were studied. The patients came from one hospital during one four-week period. Daily routines were not controlled. Treatment lasted only four weeks, so long-term effects were not checked. The laser group received several physical therapy treatments plus laser, so laser alone was not tested. The supplied text does not describe blinding, how random assignment was kept hidden, or whether anyone dropped out.
Declared interests
No funding or conflicts-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that high-intensity laser therapy alone improves chronic back pain. The laser group also received hot pack, interference wave, and ultrasonic deep heat, and the study did not test laser without physical therapy.