Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27495063›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2016

Effectiveness of low-level laser on carpal tunnel syndrome: A meta-analysis of previously reported randomized trials.

Zhi-Jun Li, Yao Wang, Hua-Feng Zhang, Xin-Long Ma, Peng Tian, Yuting Huang

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
4.3field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

20 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Low-level laser therapy for carpal tunnel syndrome.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017
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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

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Zhi-Jun LiDepartment of Orthopedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital Department of Oncological Surgery, Tianjin Nankai Hospital, Tianjin Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hosptial Department of Orthopedics, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, People's Republic of China Cancer & Immunology Research, Children's Research Institute, Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC.
Yao Wang
Hua-Feng Zhang
Xin-Long Ma
Peng Tian
Yuting Huang
Tianjin Medical University General Hospital · CNTianjin Hospital · CNTianjin Nankai Hospital · CNTianjin People's Hospital · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLow-level laser therapy (LLLT) has been applied in the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) for an extended period of time without definitive consensus on its effectiveness. This meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of low-level laser in the treatment of mild to moderate CTS using a Cochrane systematic review.

methodsWe conducted electronic searches of PubMed (1966-2015.10), Medline (1966-2015.10), Embase (1980-2015.10), and ScienceDirect (1985-2015.10), using the terms "carpal tunnel syndrome" and "laser" according to the Cochrane Collaboration guidelines. Relevant journals or conference proceedings were searched manually to identify studies that might have been missed in the database search. Only randomized clinical trials were included, and the quality assessments were performed according to the Cochrane systematic review method. The data extraction and analyses from the included studies were conducted independently by 2 reviewers. The results were expressed as the mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the continuous outcomes.

resultsSeven randomized clinical trials met the inclusion criteria; there were 270 wrists in the laser group and 261 wrists in the control group. High heterogeneity existed when the analysis was conducted. Hand grip (at 12 weeks) was stronger in the LLLT group than in the control group (MD = 2.04; 95% CI: 0.08-3.99; P = 0.04; I = 62%), and there was better improvement in the visual analog scale (VAS) (at 12 weeks) in the LLLT group (MD = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.84-1.11; P < 0.01; I = 0%). The sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) (at 12 weeks) was better in the LLLT group (MD = 1.08; 95% CI: 0.44-1.73; P = 0.001; I = 0%). However, 1 included study was weighted at >95% in the calculation of these 3 parameters. There were no statistically significant differences in the other parameters between the 2 groups.

conclusionThis study revealed that low-level laser improve hand grip, VAS, and SNAP after 3 months of follow-up for mild to moderate CTS. More high-quality studies using the same laser intervention protocol are needed to confirm the effects of low-level laser in the treatment of CTS.

Indexed as

Carpal Tunnel SyndromeFemaleHand StrengthHumansLow-Level Light TherapyMalePain MeasurementPrognosisRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRisk AssessmentSeverity of Illness IndexTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID27495063
PMCPMC4979817
OpenAlexW2505103117

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.