Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24744814›Full record

ReviewEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM2014

Low level laser therapy for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers: a critical survey.

Kathrin H Beckmann, Gesa Meyer-Hamme, Sven Schröder

Open access · hybridAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
9.1field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 102 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Phototherapy for treating foot ulcers in people with diabetes.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
    Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Autoimmune Thyroiditis.Journal of lasers in medical sciences · 2022
    Review
  16. Cellular Signalling and Photobiomodulation in Chronic Wound Repair.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Management of dry socket with low-level laser therapy.Clinical oral investigations · 2021
    Article
  19. Article
  20. Evaluation of Efficacy of Low-Level Laser Therapy.Journal of lasers in medical sciences · 2020
    Review
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

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Kathrin H BeckmannHanseMerkur Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Gesa Meyer-HammeHanseMerkur Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Sven SchröderHanseMerkur Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Universität Hamburg · DEUniversity Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Diabetic foot ulcers as one of the most common complications of diabetes mellitus are defined as nonhealing or long-lasting chronic skin ulcers in diabetic patients. Multidisciplinary care for the diabetic foot is common, but treatment results are often unsatisfactory. Low level laser therapy (LLLT) on wound areas as well as on acupuncture points, as a noninvasive, pain-free method with minor side effects, has been considered as a possible treatment option for the diabetic foot syndrome. A systematic literature review identified 1764 articles on this topic. Finally, we adopted 22 eligible references; 8 of them were cell studies, 6 were animal studies, and 8 were clinical trials. Cell studies and animal studies gave evidence of cellular migration, viability, and proliferation of fibroblast cells, quicker reepithelization and reformed connective tissue, enhancement of microcirculation, and anti-inflammatory effects by inhibition of prostaglandine, interleukin, and cytokine as well as direct antibacterial effects by induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The transferral of these data into clinical medicine is under debate. The majority of clinical studies show a potential benefit of LLLT in wound healing of diabetic ulcers. But there are a lot of aspects in these studies limiting final evidence about the actual output of this kind of treatment method. In summary, all studies give enough evidence to continue research on laser therapy for diabetic ulcers, but clinical trials using human models do not provide sufficient evidence to establish the usefulness of LLLT as an effective tool in wound care regimes at present. Further well designed research trials are required to determine the true value of LLLT in routine wound care.

Identifiers

PMID24744814
PMCPMC3976827
OpenAlexW2054054047

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.