Laser acupuncture for claudication symptoms in peripheral artery disease - Does it work? A randomized trial.
Ahmad Mahdi Ahmad, Hasnaa Ahmed Abdel-Aziz
PMID 35782701WHAT IT FOUND
Adding laser acupuncture to standard medication significantly improved patient-reported claudication symptoms and walking distance in older men with peripheral artery disease.
However, because neither the therapists nor patients were blinded, the observed benefit may reflect expectation rather than the treatment's physical effect.
Key findings
01The study group showed significant improvement in patient-reported claudication symptoms compared to baseline and the control group.
02The study group significantly increased their six-minute walk distance compared to baseline, though this did not reach significance when compared directly to the control group.
03The trial was open-label, with no blinding of participants, therapists, or assessors, and no sham laser was used for the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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
Neither the patients nor the therapists were blinded, and there was no sham laser control, which makes it impossible to separate the physiological effect of the laser from the placebo effect of receiving a novel treatment. The sample size was small (30 patients), limiting the generalizability of the findings. The study only included men, so results may not apply to women with PAD. The primary outcome was patient-reported symptoms, which are highly susceptible to expectation bias in an unblinded trial.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that laser acupuncture physically improves blood flow or walking capacity in a way that is distinct from placebo. The lack of a sham control means the significant improvement in patient-reported symptoms could be entirely due to expectation, and the improvement in walking distance was not significantly better than the control group's.