Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30572425›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2018

Effectiveness of high-intensity laser therapy in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Hyun Jin Song, Hyun-Ju Seo, Youngjin Lee, Sung Kyu Kim

Erratum issued 4 registry-linked trialsOpen access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. It is linked to 4 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 30 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
30citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 7% 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.

NCT04734977 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Clinical Effectiveness of High-Intensity Laser Therapy in Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy: A Randomized Study of Double Blınd With Sham Control

TypeinterventionalSponsorAfyonkarahisar Health Sciences UniversityRan2021 to 2022Enrolled90ConditionsRadiculopathy, Musculoskeletal Diseases, Cervical Pain, Cervical Radicular PainArmsHigh-intensity laser therapy (HILT), Sham high-intensity laser therapy (Sham HILT), Therapeutic Exercise
NCT05564182 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

Efficacy of High Intensity Laser Treatment in Hemiplegic Shoulder Patients

TypeinterventionalSponsorAfyonkarahisar Health Sciences UniversityRan2022 to 2023Enrolled40ConditionsShoulder Pain, Hemiplegia, Arthralgia, Joint DiseasesArmsHigh intensity laser therapy, Therapeutic Exercise
NCT05689788 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Effect of High-intensity Laser Therapy in Patients With Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain. Randomized Clinical Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorQuiropraxia y EquilibrioRan2024 to 2025Enrolled72ConditionsNon-specific Chronic Neck PainArmsHigh-intensity laser therapy, Stretching exercise, Sham High-intensity laser therapy
NCT07364110 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Comparison of High Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) and Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT) for the Treatment of Plantar Flexor Spasticity in Post-Stroke Patients

TypeinterventionalSponsorNecmettin Erbakan UniversityRan2021 to 2022Enrolled39ConditionsStroke Gait RehabilitationArmsRehabilitation Protocol, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy (ESWT), High-Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

30 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 68 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Hyun Jin SongCollege of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
Hyun-Ju SeoDepartment of Nursing, College of Medicine, Chosun University, Gwangju.
Youngjin LeeCollege of Nursing, Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea.
Sung Kyu KimDepartment of Orthopedic Surgery, Chonnam National University Medical School and Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
Ajou University · KRChonnam National University Hospital · KRChosun University · KRUniversity of Florida · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) has been used for the management of musculoskeletal disorders (MSD), studies examining the effectiveness of HILT have been limited. We investigated the effectiveness of HILT in MSD using a systematic review and meta-analysis.

methodsWe searched the ovid MEDLINE, ovid Embase, Cochrane CENTRAL library, and Web of Science until January, 2018. Relevant studies concerning the effectiveness of HILT in patients with MSD were included. Both placebo and active controls were considered as comparators and only randomized controlled trial (RCT) design studies were included. Risk of bias (ROB) was used for the quality assessment of the RCT. For continuous variables, a meta-analysis was conducted using an inverse variance random effects model. The mean difference (MD) for visual analog scale pain and standardized mean difference (SMD) for disability were applied.

resultsTwelve studies were selected for this systematic review. In 11 studies, comprising 736 patients, pain was significantly improved by HILT compared with a control group (MD: -1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -1.28 to -0.74). From the analysis of 688 patients from 10 studies, the pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) of HILT showed a significant improvement in disability scores compared with those in the control group (SMD, -1.09; 95% CI -1.77, -0.41). In subgroup analysis by treatment regions, the mean difference (MD) in neck pain was the highest at -1.02 (95% CI: -1.45, -0.58) than in controls, followed by back pain (MD, -0.91; 95% CI: -1.24, -0.59).

conclusionsThe results of this study show that HILT treatment for back and neck pain significantly improved pain and disability scores compared with controls. The ROB of the included studies was moderate; however, significant heterogeneity existed. Thus, additional well-designed studies involving larger samples with long-term follow-up are needed to further assess each laser application, treatment region, and comparator.

Indexed as

Laser TherapyHumansMusculoskeletal DiseasesRandomized Controlled Trials as Topic

Identifiers

PMID30572425
PMCPMC6319951
OpenAlexW2905686535

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.