Long term effects of high intensity laser therapy in lateral epicondylitis patients

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate short- and long-term effects of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) in lateral epicondylitis (LE) patients. Thirty patients with LE diagnosis (23 unilateral and 7 bilateral in total 37 elbows) were treated using HILT. LE patients were evaluated before, right after, and 6 months following HILT intervention post-treatment using visual analogue scale for pain (VAS) during activity and resting. Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) Score and hand grip strength test (HGST) were used. The participants of the present study were also evaluated using Short-Form 36 (SF-36) before and 6 months after the treatment. Out of the 30 patients, 8 were male and 22 female with a mean age of 47.2 ± 9.7. The activity and resting VAS, DASH, and HGST scores revealed statistically significant improvement (p = 0.001) following treatment. Whereas VAS activity, DASH, and HGST scores increased after treatment until post-treatment 6 months significantly (p = 0.001), VAS resting scores remained stable (p = 0.476). A statistically significant improvement was also evident in the physical and mental components of SF-36 scores following treatment until post-treatment 6 months compared to pre-treatment scores (p = 0.001). In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that HILT is a reliable, safe, and effective treatment option in LE patients in the short and long term considering pain, functional status, and quality of life.

Short-Term Efficacy Comparison of High-Intensity and Low-Intensity Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Lateral Epicondylitis: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Study

“…This study has some important limitations, such as the short follow-up period and the low number of participants. In a six-month follow-up study by Akkurt et al, 10 it was shown that the improvement in the VAS activity and DASH scores continued to increase significantly up to the sixth month after the end of the treatment. Another limitation was that a single treatment procedure was applied, since the optimal frequency, dose, wavelength, and treatment time for HILT and LILT LE treatments are not yet clear.…”

“…For example, Salli et al 31 investigated the HILT treatment efficacy with epicondylitis bandages and observed significant improvement in favor of the HILT in all of the hand grip strength, pain, disability, and quality of life parameters. Additionally, Akkurt et al 10 investigated the long-term HILT treatment effects and reported significant improvements in the VAS (in both activity and rest), DASH, hand grip strength, and SF-36 scores starting at the second week after treatment, which continued to increase through the sixth month.…”

“…7,8 However, Tumilty et al 9 reported that LILT, with an appropriate dosing regimen, may be an effective tendinopathy treatment modality. In their study, Akkurt et al 10 showed that HILT is an effective and safe treatment for LE over both the short-and long-terms. Moreover, in 2017, it was reported that HILT was more effective than LILT in the treatment of patients with plantar fasciitis (PF).…”

The Beneficial Effects of High-Intensity Laser Therapy and Co-Interventions on Musculoskeletal Pain Management: A Systematic Review

“…Eighteen of these studies were excluded based on title and abstract. The full text of 34 remaining articles was screened and 15 articles were excluded [1][2][3]6,7,9,10,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] because: the PEDro score of three studies was 6 2,3,28 . Six articles didn't report pain by VAS; it was not possible to estimate ES in two studies 1,6,7,9,10,23,24,27 ; two studies 29,30 were case reports; and two studies did not have at least one another group for comparison.…”

“…Six articles didn't report pain by VAS; it was not possible to estimate ES in two studies 1,6,7,9,10,23,24,27 ; two studies 29,30 were case reports; and two studies did not have at least one another group for comparison. 25,26 Finally, 19 studies (HILT: 11, +other interventions: 8) were included for qualitative and quantitative assessment. [11][12][13][15][16][17]19,[31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] The characteristics of all studies in two groups are listed in Table 1.…”