High-Wattage Pulsed Irradiation of Linearly Polarized Near-Infrared Light to Stellate Ganglion Area for Burning Mouth Syndrome

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to apply high-wattage pulsed irradiation of linearly polarized near-infrared light to the stellate ganglion area for burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and to assess the efficacy of the stellate ganglion area irradiation (SGR) on BMS using differential time-/frequency-domain parameters (D parameters). Three patients with BMS received high-wattage pulsed SGR; the response to SGR was evaluated by visual analogue scale (VAS) representing the intensity of glossalgia and D parameters used in heart rate variability analysis. High-wattage pulsed SGR significantly decreased the mean value of VAS in all cases without any adverse event such as thermal injury. D parameters mostly correlated with clinical condition of BMS. High-wattage pulsed SGR was safe and effective for the treatment of BMS; D parameters are useful for assessing efficacy of SGR on BMS.

Efficacy of Noninvasive Stellate Ganglion Blockade Performed Using Physical Agent Modalities in Patients with Sympathetic Hyperactivity-Associated Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In addition, noninvasive SGB can be safely and conveniently performed in clinical practice, particularly in patients declining injections, having a high bleeding tendency, undergoing anticoagulant therapy, or having contraindications for nerve blockade, such as those with hemophilia [30–34]. In patients with neuropathic pain syndromes, the effects of SGB performed using light irradiation were similar to those of conventional intensive SGB, including improved blood flow through vasodilation and reduced pain by direct blockade of the afferent nociceptive signals traveling through sympathetic pathways [31, 33, 35–38]. Moreover, the effects of SGB performed using TENS [39–41] and therapeutic US [41, 42] were similar.…”

“…Compared with the conventional nerve blockade technique, noninvasive SGB is free from potential complications such as infection, bleeding, potential nerve damage, and other adverse events that may be caused by an injective or a puncture injury following repeated applications [19–29]. Moreover, noninvasive SGB can be conveniently performed in clinical practice even in the absence of an anesthesiologist and is well tolerated by patients without any thermal injury or with few adverse effects [31, 39, 40, 43–56], regardless of the application modality.…”

“…Noninvasive SGB can provide clinically effective pain relief, improve peripheral vasomotor and sudomotor dysfunction and abnormal heart rate variability (HRV), and maintain homeostasis in patients with neuropathic pain syndromes such as CRPS [40, 41, 43, 44, 46, 53, 57], fibromyalgia [33], glossodynia [52], burning mouth syndrome [31, 36, 58], postherpetic neuralgia [49, 59, 60], trigeminal neuralgia [61], and thalamic pain [55] as well as in those with other disorders such as Bell’s palsy [50, 51, 60], musculoskeletal pain [38], postoperative sensory disturbance [62], Raynaud’s phenomenon [63], glaucoma [64], and sudden deafness [65]. In addition, noninvasive SGB can alleviate conditions associated with hypersympathetic tone [35, 45, 47, 64–68] and physiological changes associated with suppressed sympathetic activities in healthy adults [34, 37, 42, 56, 69–75].…”

“…Most studies examining this topic have used a nonrandomized experimental design or case series [31, 33, 36, 45, 64, 76–81]. Several reviews and meta-analyses of the effectiveness of PAMs in pain management have been published for assisting clinicians in making decisions [82–87].…”

Effect of high-intensity pulse irradiation with linear polarized near-infrared rays on muscle tone in patients with cerebrovascular disease: a randomized controlled trial

“…Thus, irradiation is typically applied intermittently, with repeated irradiation lasting several seconds followed by a rest interval 4 , 5 ) . High-intensity LPNR (Hi-LPNR) irradiation therapy using equipment with a maximum output of 10 W has recently been reported 11 ) . Continuous irradiation at this output has a very high risk of burns.…”