The Effectiveness of Laser Acupuncture for Treatment of Musculoskeletal Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies

Efficacy of Laser Acupuncture for Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

To summarize and systematically analyze the efficacy of laser acupuncture (LA) interventions in reducing pain scores in patients suffering from chronic low back pain (LBP).

METHODS

PubMed, EMBASE, and Scopus databases were searched for randomized controlled trials, published in peer-reviewed journals, and reporting LA interventions in patients with chronic LBP. All included studies had a comparison group of patients, receiving placebo treatment, sham intervention, conventional therapy, or no treatment. The outcome of interest was the pain intensity score. Pooled effect estimates were calculated using random-effects models and reported as weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTS

A total of 20 studies were included. Compared to the control group, patients who underwent LA experienced a significant reduction in reported pain scores immediately after completing the treatment (WMD -1.14, 95% CI: -1.68 to -0.61). High dose of LA was associated with a more significant decrease in the pain scores (WMD -1.40, 95% CI: -1.94 to -0.85; N = 15, I2 = 81.0%). However, reported pain scores of patients who received LA were statistically similar to those of the control group at short-term (4-8 weeks after the treatment) and long-term (12 months) follow-ups.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with chronic LBP, LA may help in alleviating pain immediately after the treatment. However, this effect does not appear to be sustained on later follow-up assessments. Consequently, patients should be informed about the potential limitations of the treatment in providing lasting pain relief.

Effectiveness of Laser Acupuncture for Reducing Pain and Increasing Mouth Opening Range in Individuals with Temporomandibular Disorder: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Laser acupuncture (LA) demonstrates promising results in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. However, its effects on temporomandibular disorder (TMD) are not yet fully understood. Thus, the aim of this systematic review and network meta-analysis was to assess the effectiveness of LA on pain intensity and maximum mouth opening range (MMO) related to TMD. A search was carried out in 11 electronic databases and references of included studies to locate randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that evaluated LA as a primary treatment for TMD. The risk of bias was assessed using the RoB 2 tool. Network meta-analysis was conducted on the MetaInsight platform, considering the pain intensity and counseling (C) as the outcome of reference. The GRADE system was used to assess the certainty of the evidence.

RECENT FINDINGS

Five studies evaluated pain intensity, four with a high risk of bias and one with a low risk. Two studies evaluated pain intensity on palpation (one with high and one with low risk of bias), and one study with high risk of bias evaluated MMO. Laser parameters were: 690-810 nm, 40-150 mW, and 7.5-112.5 J/cm2. Occlusal splint (OS) [- 2.47; CI 95% - 3.64, - 1.30] and Physiotherapy (PT) [-2.64; CI 95% - 3.94, - 1.34] reduced pain intensity compared to C. The ranking of treatments in order of effectiveness was PT > OS > LA > C > CR (craniopuncture). The certainty of the evidence was very low or low. The data do not support the indication of LA for the treatment of TMDs and new placebo-controlled RCTs must be conducted to demonstrate its effectiveness more precisely.

The Effect of Lifting-and-Thrusting Laser Acupuncture on Electrodermal Activity of Acupoints, Pulse Characteristics, and Brainwave

Acupuncture has been shown as an effective traditional Chinese medicine treatment method, especially for pain relief. Recently, laser acupuncture is becoming increasingly popular, thanks to its noninvasive and painless nature and effectiveness in treating diseases, proven by many studies (for example, some previous studies showed that low-power laser stimulation is able to increase the power of alpha rhythms and theta waves). In our prior work, we developed a novel laser acupuncture model that emulates lifting-and-thrusting operation commonly used in traditional needle acupuncture and showed its benefit in improving cardiac output and peripheral circulation. By extending our previous studies, in this work, we perform extensive experiments to understand the effect of such a system on electrodermal activity (EDA) of acupoints, pulse characteristics, and brainwave, to further verify its efficacy. In particular, we found that laser stimulation could cause significant changes in EDA of acupoints, pulse amplitude, pulse-rate-variability (PRV), and acupoint conductance, as a function of laser power and stimulation time. In addition, laser acupuncture with the lifting-and-thrusting operation has more significant effect on increasing the power of alpha and theta frequency bands as compared to laser acupuncture without the lifting-and-thrusting operation. Finally, given sufficient stimulation time (e.g., > 20 min), the performance of a low-powered laser acupuncture with the lifting-and-thrusting operation could be comparable to that of traditional needle acupuncture.

Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture-Related Therapies for Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Protocol for Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis

Introduction

Chronic pain is one of the major health problems worldwide in recent years, and acupuncture-related therapies have been reported to have definite analgesic effects. However, it is still unclear which treatment is the most effective. Our systematic review and network meta-analysis protocol aims to summarize the evidence and determine the most effective method to treat the chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Methods and Analysis

Our literature search will be performed in five electronic databases-the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and PubMed, AMED, CINAHL, until May 20, 2022. All randomized controlled trials of acupuncture-related therapies for chronic musculoskeletal pain will be included. The primary outcomes will be common pain-related scales, and the secondary outcomes will include quality of life and incidence of adverse events. Excel 2019 will be used for data extraction, RoB2 will be used for bias risk assessment. R 3.6.2 and WinBUGS V.1.4.3 software will be used for network data synthesis and to produce related plots. During the study, literature selection, data extraction, quality assessment and bias risk assessment will be independently completed by two reviewers, and differences will be judged by the third reviewer. Finally, the risk of bias and sources of heterogeneity in the study will be analyzed and explained in order to obtain reliable results.

Results

Our study will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture-related therapies for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain, and we will rank all methods to recommend the best appropriate treatment option.

Conclusion

This study will provide a good foundation for complementary and alternative medicine to treat chronic musculoskeletal pain. It will be also helpful to promote the clinical practice by providing evidence-based medical evidence.

Traditional acupuncture and laser acupuncture in chronic nonspecific neck pain: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Nonspecific neck pain is a multifactorial and very common condition in adult individuals, traditional acupuncture (TA) and laser acupuncture (LA) may be treatment options for certain individuals in such a condition. However, no reports were found in the literature comparing the effectiveness of TA and LA in cases of chronic nonspecific neck pain. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to investigate the effectiveness of TA and LA therapies in individuals with chronic nonspecific neck pain, noting which one is more efficient for this condition. The result of this research will have direct implications for pain management and, consequently, may benefit individuals suffering from nonspecific chronic neck pain.

Methods/design

This will be a controlled and randomized clinical trial. Eighty-four individuals will be recruited and distributed equally and randomly into 3 groups: TA (which will receive the acupuncture treatment with needles), LA (which will receive the laser acupuncture treatment), and Sham (who will receive the placebo intervention). The acupuncture points (Tianzhu, Fengchi, Jianjing, and Jianzhongshu) will be stimulated bilaterally. The primary outcome will be pain intensity, determined using the Numerical Rating Scale. The secondary outcomes will be pressure pain threshold, temporal summation of pain, conditioned pain modulation, use of analgesic medicines after treatment, and the global perceived effect scale. The assessments will be performed immediately before and after the treatment, which will be a single session, at the follow-up and 1 month after the end of the treatments; evaluation will be made of the pain intensity and the global perceived effect. Statistical analysis of the data obtained will consider a significance level of p < 0.05.

Discussion

This study will provide evidence concerning the effects of LA treatment, in comparison with TA and sham intervention, leading to benefits for individuals suffering from chronic nonspecific neck pain.

Trial registration

Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials - ReBEC RBR-7vbw5gd. Date of registration: August 06th, 2021.