HERNIATED LUMBAR/SACRAL DISC, WITH MRI ASSESSMENT: A CASE REPORT

Tatsuhide Abe – Laser Therapy 1989
A 40 year old woman presented at the clinic with a 2 year history of lower back pain and pain in the left hip an leg, diagnosed as a ruptured disc between the 5th lumber/1st sacral vertebrae. The condition had failed to respond to conventional treatment methods including pelvic traction, non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and dural block anaesthetic injections.

MRI scans were made of the affected disc, showing it protruding on the left side through the dural membrane. Treatment was used in outpatient therapy, and after 7 months, the patients condition had dramatically improved, demonstrated by motility exercises. This improvement was confirmed by further MRI scans, which clearlt showed the normal condition of the previously herniated L5/S1 disc.

IMPROVEMENT OF PAIN AND DISABILITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH DEGENERATIVE OSTEOARTHRITIS OF THE KNEE

(Jean Stelian et al - pub. J Am Geratric Soc. 1992; 40: 23-26)
Partially double blinded, fully randomized trial. Pain reduction in the treated group was more than 50% in all scoring methods. There was no significant pain improvement in the placebo group. This study also observed significant functional improvement in the treated group but not in the Placebo Group.

RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF ADJUNCTIVE DIODE LASER THERAPY FOR PAIN ATTENTUATION IN 662 PATIENTS

(Shigeyuki Nakaji et al – pub. Photomedicine and laser surgery vol. 23 num. 1, 2005)
Subjects were 1087 patients treated between April 1992 to august 1995. The efficacy rating immediately after treatment was 46.8% in men and 47% in women, rising to 73.3% in men and 76.8% in women at time of survey (1996). Conclusion: Infrared Diode Low Level Laser Therapy (Photomedicine) is considered safe, effective and side effect free making an ideal adjunctive therapeutic modality for intractable chronic pain.

THE EFFECT OF INFRA-RED LASER IRRADIATION ON THE DURATION AND SEVERITY OF POST-OPERATIVE PAIN: A DOUBLE BLIND STUDY

(Kevin C. Moore et al - pub. J. Wiley and sons 1992)
There was a significant difference in the number doses of narcotic analgesic required between the groups. No patient in the treatment group required narcotic analgesia after 24 hours. Similarly the requirement for oral analgesia was reduced in the treated group. Control patients assessed their overall pain as moderate to severe compared with mild to moderate in the treated group.

A SYSTEMIC REVIEW OF LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY WITH LOCATION SPECIFIC DOSES FOR PAIN FROM CHRONIC JOINT DISORDERS

(Bjordal JM et al – pub. Aust J Physiother 2003;49(2):107-16)
A literature search of 88 randomised controlled trials, of which 20 trials included patients with chronic joint disorders. [Of these] 11 trials including 565 patients were acceptable methodological quality with an average PEDro score of 6.9 (range 5-9). Conclusion: [Treatment] with the suggested dose range significantly reduces pain and improves health status in chronic joint disorders.

[TREATMENT] FOR TENDINOPATHY EVIDENCE OF A DOSE-RESPONSE PATTERN

(Bjordal JM et al – pub. Physical Therapy Reviews 2001;6:91-99)
To investigate whether [treatment] can reduce pain from tendinopathy, they performed a review of randomized placebo-controlled trials with [treatment] for tendinopathy. [Treatment] can reduce pain in subacute and chronic tendinopathy if a valid treatment procedure and location-specific dose is used.

THE EFFECT OF [TREATMENT] ON CHRONIC NECK PAIN: A DOUBLE-BLIND, RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED STUDY

(Chow RT et al - pub. Pain. 2006 Jun 23)
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in 90 subjects with chronic neck pain. [Treatment] was efficacious in providing pain relief for patients with chronic neck pain over a period of 3 months.

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