Efficacy of Photobiomodulation Therapy in the Treatment of Pain and Inflammation: A Literature Review
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González Muñoz, Ana; Cuevas Cervera, María; Pérez Montilla, José Javier; Hamed-Hamed, Dina; Aguilar García, María; Navarro Ledesma, SantiagoEditorial
MDPI
Materia
Low-level laser therapy Photobiomodulation Chronic pain Inflammation Metabolism
Date
2023-03-24Referencia bibliográfica
González-Muñoz, A.; Cuevas-Cervera,M.; Pérez-Montilla, J.J.; Aguilar-Núñez, D.; Hamed-Hamed, D.; Aguilar-García,M.; Pruimboom, L.; Navarro-Ledesma, S. Efficacy of Photobiomodulation Therapy in the Treatment of Pain and Inflammation: A Literature Review. Healthcare 2023, 11, 938. [https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11070938]
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University Chair in Clinical Psychoneuroimmunology (University of Granada and PNI Europe)Abstract
The main objective of this literature review was to analyze the efficacy of (PBM) therapy
application on subjects with chronic pain and inflammation, and furthermore, to evaluate the methodological
quality of the collected literature. The search was conducted using five databases: PubMed,
ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, and PEDro. The keywords “low level laser therapy”, “chronic
pain”, and “inflammation” provided the selection of RCTs that were published within the last 5 years,
conducted in humans, and written in English. The PEDro Internal Validity Scale (IVS) checklist
was used to evaluate the risk of bias in the included studies. A total of 11 articles were selected,
all of them RCTs. Of the articles, five showed that PBM positively influences chronic pain, while
another showed the same but only in the short term. In two other articles, the patient’s inflammation
improved markedly. In one article there was no improvement in chronic pain and in another, there
was no improvement in inflammation. Four articles demonstrated that PBM is beneficial in acute pain.
Furthermore, six studies were given an “excellent” score and the remaining five a “good” score based
on the IVS. Photobiomodulation has beneficial effects on chronic pain and inflammation, although
more research needs to be completed in this line for this to be clarified as the existence of RCTs on
this subject is limited.