Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20662021›Full record

ReviewLasers in surgery and medicine2010

Effect of pulsing in low-level light therapy.

Javad T Hashmi, Ying-Ying Huang, Sulbha K Sharma, Divya Balachandran Kurup, Luis De Taboada, James D Carroll, Michael R Hamblin

Registry-linked trialAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Lasers in surgery and medicine, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07422272 (Examining of the Acute Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy), which is not on this map. Cited by 108 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
108citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07422272 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Examining of the Acute Effects of Low-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) on Pain Threshold and Tolerance: a Randomized Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorEuropean University of LefkeRan2025 to 2026Enrolled62ConditionsPain Threshold, Pain Tolerance, Acute Pain, Low-level Laser TherapyArmsLow-Level Laser Therapy (LLLT), Sham LLLT
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

108 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Trial
  11. Trial
  12. Intraoral vs. extraoral photobiomodulation therapy for oral mucositis in head and neck cancer patients: a multicenter, randomized, single-blind clinical trial.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Trial
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Trial
  18. Trial
  19. Article
  20. Article

48 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Javad T HashmiWellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Ying-Ying Huang
Sulbha K Sharma
Divya Balachandran Kurup
Luis De Taboada
James D Carroll
Michael R Hamblin

Funding

Photodynamic Therapy of Localized InfectionsR01AI050875 · NIAID · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI HAMBLIN, MICHAEL R · 2003 to 2017
$4.8M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI050875NIAID NIH HHS R01AI050875
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

objectiveLow level light (or laser) therapy (LLLT) is a rapidly growing modality used in physical therapy, chiropractic, sports medicine and increasingly in mainstream medicine. LLLT is used to increase wound healing and tissue regeneration, to relieve pain and inflammation, to prevent tissue death, to mitigate degeneration in many neurological indications. While some agreement has emerged on the best wavelengths of light and a range of acceptable dosages to be used (irradiance and fluence), there is no agreement on whether continuous wave or pulsed light is best and on what factors govern the pulse parameters to be chosen. STUDY DESIGN/MATERIALS AND

methodsThe published peer-reviewed literature was reviewed between 1970 and 2010.

resultsThe basic molecular and cellular mechanisms of LLLT are discussed. The type of pulsed light sources available and the parameters that govern their pulse structure are outlined. Studies that have compared continuous wave and pulsed light in both animals and patients are reviewed. Frequencies used in other pulsed modalities used in physical therapy and biomedicine are compared to those used in LLLT.

conclusionThere is some evidence that pulsed light does have effects that are different from those of continuous wave light. However further work is needed to define these effects for different disease conditions and pulse structures.

Indexed as

Low-Level Light TherapyAdenosine TriphosphateAnimalsBrain IschemiaCerebral CortexHumansLasersNerve RegenerationNeural ConductionPain ManagementStrokeWound HealingAdenosine Triphosphate

Identifiers

PMID20662021
PMCPMC2933784

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.