HILT NECK PAIN RESEARCH Immediate effects of high-intensity laser therapy for nonspecific neck pain (NNP): a double-blind randomized controlled trial. Xie Y, Diao Y, Wu D, Liao M, Liao L. Rehabilitation Medicine Center, The First Dongguan Affiliated Hospital, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, China.
Read the full study at pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40313543/
Study design & methods Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trial. (Patients and assessor blinding) Subjects: 28 patients diagnosed with NNP. Methods: subjects were allocated to either • HILT group (HILT+ exercise, n= 14), or • Placebo group (placebo-laser therapy+ exercise, n=14)
Results Upon initial comparison at baseline, no significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between the two groups. • After treatment, both groups showed notable improvements in all outcome measures compared to baseline (p < 0.05) • The HILT group demonstrated greater efficacy compared to the placebo group in terms of VAS scores, cervical lateral flexion and neck muscle shear modulus • No statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) were identified between the groups in cervical flexion, extension, rotation, neck fascia stiffness and NDI scores.
HILT protocol: One treatment session Power: 8W
Mode: 2x 2 min resp. fast and slow scanning of the para vertebral region of both cervical vertebrae, interscapular region, trapezius, stemocleidomastoid, and pain trigger points ( 100 cm2); 6x 15 sec trigger point treatment on 6 TPs Total dose: 2x 1,025 J during scanning; 6x 125J during TP treatment Fluence: scanning: 10.25 J/cm2 Treatment time: total 6 min Outcomes: all participants underwent assessments both before treatment and 2 h after treatment Primary Pain intensity via the visual analogue scale (VAS O - 100)
Pain VAS
P = 0.001
54.64
53.57
43.57
29.64
POST
PRE
HILT
Placebo
Conclusion HILT has immediate efficacy for NNP and may be considered as one of the alternative interventions for NNP. Note: patient received only one treatment session and only the immediate effects were assessed. Key message This RCT showed that HILT was significantly more effective for immediate pain relief than placebo when added to exercise therapy.
Secondary •
Cervical active ROM
• Stiffness of neck muscles (splenius capitis, semispinalis capitis, and neck fascia), measured by Shear Wave Elastography (Ultrasound) • Functional disability via the neck disability index (NDI). Statistical evaluations were carried out using SPSS version 25.0, with a significance threshold established at p < 0.05.
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