Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34913330›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine2022

Low-intensity LASER and LED (photobiomodulation therapy) for pain control of the most common musculoskeletal conditions.

Marcelo F DE Oliveira, Douglas S Johnson, Timothy Demchak, Shaiane S Tomazoni, Ernesto C Leal-Junior

Registry-linked trialOpen access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07567703 (A Comparative Study of Laser Therapy and Shockwave Therapy in the Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome), which is not on this map. Cited by 62 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
62citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
7.9field-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.

NCT07567703 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

A Comparative Study of Laser Therapy and Shockwave Therapy in the Treatment of Piriformis Syndrome: The Role of Exercise as an Adjunctive Treatment

TypeinterventionalSponsorBeni-Suef UniversityRan2025 to 2026Enrolled70ConditionsPiriformis SyndromeArmsLow-Level Laser Therapy + Therapeutic Exercise, Radial Shockwave Therapy + Therapeutic Exercise
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

62 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 93 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. Light therapy in medicine: where do we stand?Annals of translational medicine · 2026
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2 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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 4 institutions in 3 countries.

Marcelo F DE OliveiraLaboratory of Phototherapy and Innovative Technologies in Health (LaPIT), Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Nove de Julho University, São Paulo, Brazil.
Douglas S JohnsonMulti Radiance Medical, Solon, OH, USA.
Timothy DemchakIndiana State University, Terre Haute, IN, USA.
Shaiane S TomazoniDepartment of Global Public Health and Primary Care, Physiotherapy Research Group, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Ernesto C Leal-JuniorLaboratory of Phototherapy and Innovative Technologies in Health (LaPIT), Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Nove de Julho University, São Paulo, Brazil - ernesto.leal.junior@gmail.com.
University of Bergen · NOIndiana State University · USRadiance Technologies (United States) · USUniversidade Nove de Julho · BR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pain is the most common reason for physician consultations and the number one reason for missed work or school days is musculoskeletal pain. Pain management is utilized for easing the suffering and improving the Quality of Life of those living with chronic pain. Over the past several decades, physicians have become increasingly willing to prescribe opioids to manage pain. However, the opioid use can cause side effects as poor coordination, sedation, mood swings, depression, and anxiety combined with a dependence on the drugs. In the rehabilitation setting, patients benefit most when their health providers utilize a multimodal approach combining different types of therapies and when patients take on a significant role in optimal management of their own pain. The use of light as a therapeutic alternative form of medicine to manage pain and inflammation has been proposed to fill this void. Photobiomodulation therapy applied in the form of low-intensity Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation (LASER) and light-emitting diode (LED) has been shown to reduce inflammation and swelling, promote healing, and reduce pain for an array of musculoskeletal conditions. There is evidence that photobiomodulation therapy reduces pain intensity in non-specific knee pain, osteoarthritis, pain post-total hip arthroplasty, fibromyalgia, temporomandibular diseases, neck pain, and low back pain. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to present the up-to-dated evidence about the effects of low-intensity LASER and LED (photobiomodulation therapy) on pain control of the most common musculoskeletal conditions. We observed that the photobiomodulation therapy offers a non-invasive, safe, drug-free, and side-effect-free method for pain relief of both acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions as well as fibromyalgia.

Indexed as

Chronic PainFibromyalgiaLow-Level Light TherapyMusculoskeletal PainHumansInflammationLasersPain ManagementQuality of Life

Identifiers

PMID34913330
PMCPMC9980499
OpenAlexW4200354178

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.