Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33776469›Full record

Trial reportJournal of inflammation research2021

Evaluation of Adjunctive Photobiomodulation (PBMT) for COVID-19 Pneumonia via Clinical Status and Pulmonary Severity Indices in a Preliminary Trial.

Mariana A Vetrici, Soheila Mokmeli, Andrew R Bohm, Monica Monici, Scott A Sigman

Open access · goldAbstract readCase ReportsClinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of inflammation research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
20citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 4% 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, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 42 citations in OpenAlex.

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  16. Is haem the real target of COVID-19?Photodiagnosis and photodynamic therapy · 2021
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Mariana A Vetrici *Department of Biological Sciences, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-5528-8908
Soheila Mokmeli *Training Institute, Canadian Optic and Laser Center, Victoria, BC, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-3238-3029
Andrew R BohmDepartment of Orthopedics, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, NY, USA.
Monica MoniciASA Campus J.L., ASA Res. Division - Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Scott A Sigman *Department of Orthopedics, Lowell General Hospital, Lowell, MA, 01863, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4573-197X
Lenox Hill Hospital · USLowell General Hospital · USUniversity of Florence · ITUniversity of Lethbridge · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeEvidence-based and effective treatments for COVID-19 are limited, and a new wave of infections and deaths calls for novel, easily implemented treatment strategies. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) is a well-known adjunctive treatment for pain management, wound healing, lymphedema, and cellulitis. PBMT uses light to start a cascade of photochemical reactions that lead to local and systemic anti-inflammatory effects at multiple levels and that stimulate healing. Numerous empirical studies of PBMT for patients with pulmonary disease such as pneumonia, COPD and asthma suggest that PBMT is a safe and effective adjunctive treatment. Recent systematic reviews suggest that PBMT may be applied to target lung tissue in COVID-19 patients. In this preliminary study, we evaluated the effect of adjunctive PBMT on COVID-19 pneumonia and patient clinical status. PATIENTS AND

methodsWe present a small-scale clinical trial with 10 patients randomized to standard medical care or standard medical care plus adjunctive PBMT. The PBMT group received four daily sessions of near-infrared light treatment targeting the lung tissue via a Multiwave Locked System (MLS) laser. Patient outcomes were measured via blood work, chest x-rays, pulse oximetry and validated scoring tools for pneumonia.

resultsPBMT patients showed improvement on pulmonary indices such as SMART-COP, BCRSS, RALE, and CAP (Community-Acquired Pneumonia questionnaire). PBMT-treated patients showed rapid recovery, did not require ICU admission or mechanical ventilation, and reported no long-term sequelae at 5 months after treatment. In the control group, 60% of patients were admitted to the ICU for mechanical ventilation. The control group had an overall mortality of 40%. At a 5-month follow-up, 40% of the control group experienced long-term sequelae.

conclusionPBMT is a safe and effective potential treatment for COVID-19 pneumonia and improves clinical status in COVID-19 pneumonia.

Indexed as

BCRSSCOVID-19low-level laser therapypneumoniaRALESMART-COP

Identifiers

PMID33776469
PMCPMC7989376
OpenAlexW3137700497

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Registered trials

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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.