Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27141153›Full record

ArticleLaser therapy2016

830 nm light-emitting diode (led) phototherapy significantly reduced return-to-play in injured university athletes: a pilot study.

John Foley, David B Vasily, Jeanna Bradle, Catharine Rudio, R Glen Calderhead

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Laser therapy, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 15% 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

10 citing papers in PubMed, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Review
  3. Infrared Radiation in the Management of Musculoskeletal Conditions and Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2022
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Under the spotlight: mechanisms of photobiomodulation concentrating on blue and green light.Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology · 2019
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. 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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

John FoleyDepartment of Sports Medicine, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA.
David B VasilyLehigh Valley Dermatology, Bethlehem, PA, USA.
Jeanna BradleFreeman Health Systems, Joplin, MO, USA.
Catharine RudioDepartment of Sports Medicine, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, USA.
R Glen CalderheadClinical Institute for Photomedicine and Photosurgery Research (CIPPR), Goyang, Korea.
Lehigh University · USFreeman Health System · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND

aimsFor any committed athlete, getting back to conditioning and participation post-injury (return to play [RTP]) needs to be as swift as possible. The effects of near-infrared light-emitting diode (LED) therapy on pain control, blood flow enhancement and relaxation of muscle spasm (all aspects in the treatment of musculoskeletal injury) have attracted attention. The present pilot study was undertaken to assess the role of 830 nm LED phototherapy in safely accelerating RTP in injured university athletes. SUBJECTS AND

methodsOver a 15-month period, a total of 395 injuries including sprains, strains, ligament damage, tendonitis and contusions were treated with 1,669 sessions of 830 nm LED phototherapy (mean of 4.3 treatments per injury, range 2 - 6). Efficacy was measured with pain attenuation on a visual analog scale (VAS) and the RTP period compared with historically-based anticipated RTP with conventional therapeutic intervention.

resultsA full set of treatment sessions and follow-up data was able to be recorded in 65 informed and consenting subjects who achieved pain relief on the VAS of up to 6 points in from 2-6 sessions. The average LED-mediated RTP in the 65 subjects was significantly shorter at 9.6 days, compared with the mean anticipated RTP of 19.23 days (p = 0.0066, paired two-tailed Student's t-test). A subjective satisfaction survey was carried out among the 112 students with injuries incurred from January to May, 2015. Eighty-eight (78.5%) were either very satisfied or satisfied, and only 8 (7.2%) were dissatisfied.

conclusionsFor any motivated athlete, RTP may be the most important factor postinjury based on the resolution of pain and inflammation and repair to tissue trauma. 830 nm LED phototherapy significantly and safely reduced the RTP in dedicated university athletes over a wide range of injuries with no adverse events. One limitation of the present study was the subjective nature of the assessments, and the lack of any control groups. However, further controlled studies are warranted to enable confirmation and generalization of the very good results in the present study.

Indexed as

inflammatory facilitatorsinflammatory mediatorsLEDLow level light therapy (LLLT)musculoskeletal injurypainsports medicine

Identifiers

PMID27141153
PMCPMC4846838
OpenAlexW2319021168

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.