This is a very interesting peer reviewed paper by Dr Roberta Chow and her colleagues that was published in the Lancet Journal.
Roberta T Chow, Mark ‘Johnson, Rodrigo A B Lopes-Martins, Jan M Bjordal
Summary
Background Neck pain is a common and costly condition for which pharmacological management has limited evidence of efficacy and side-effects.
Low-level laser therapy (LLLT) is a relatively uncommon, non-invasive treatment for neck pain, in which non-thermal laser irradiation is applied to sites of pain.
We did a systematic review and meta analysis of randomised controlled trials to assess the efficacy ofLLLT in neck pain.
Methods
We searched computerised databases comparing efficacy ofLLLT using any wavelength with placebo or with active control in acute or chronic neck pain. Effect size for the primary outcome, pain intensity, was defined as a pooled estimate of mean difference in change in mm on 100 mm visual analogue scale.
Findings
We identified 16 randomised controlled trials including a total of 820 patients. In acute neck pain, results of two trials showed a relative risk (RR) of1·69 (95% CI 1· 22-2.33) for pain improvement ofLLLT versus placebo. Five trials of chronic neck pain reporting categorical data showed an RR for pain improvement of 4·05 (2.74-5.98) of LLLT.
Patients in 11 trials reporting changes in visual analogue scale had pain intensity reduced by 19·86 mm (10.04-29.68). Seven trials provided follow-up data for 1-22 weeks after completion of treatment, with short-terIll pain relief persisting in the medium tenn with a reduction of22· 07 mm (17.42-26.72). Side-effects from LLLT were mild and not different from those of placebo.
Interpretation
We show that LLLT reduces pain immediately after treatment in acute neck pain and up to 22 weeks after completion of treatment in patients with chronic neck pain.
